This episode is about Pornhub - what they do, what is going on and why it matters.

Among other things, the Pornhub parent was slapped with $600M class action lawsuit over child porn (https://nypost.com/2021/01/08/pornhub). 

In addition, Mastercard and Visa ended their relationship with Pornhub after NY Times writer Nicolas Kristoff wrote in expose about the number of videos on Pornhub of minors or those who didn't give permission. As he wrote in his article (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/04/opinion/sunday/pornhub-rape-trafficking.html) about Pornhub: "It monetizes child rapes, revenge pornography, spy cam videos of women showering, racist and misogynist content, and footage of women being asphyxiated in plastic bags. A search for “girls under18” (no space) or “14yo” leads in each case to more than 100,000 videos. Most aren’t of children being assaulted, but too many are."

Senators Josh Hawley (MIssouri),  Ben Sasse (Nebraska), Maggie Hassan ( New Hampshire), Thom Tillis (No Carolina) and Joni Ernest (Iowa) introduced the "Survivors of Human Trafficking Fight back Act of 2020"  This act is designed to broaden the route to justice for victims of trafficking and CSAM (child pornography).  It also includes victims of other forms of image-based abuse and will enforce important protective measures for victims.  The bill aims to give victims of sex trafficking and rape victims the right to seek compensation in federal court if pornography websites distribute intimate photos of them without their consent. This is sometimes referred to as revenge porn. According to Hawley, Sites like Pornhub routinely escape responsibility for facilitating abuse, trafficking and exploitation, making millions for themselves in the process.   

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Photo Credit: Sora Shimazaki / pexels.com