Following accusations of Pornhub hosting images of child abuse, the platform is now removing all non-verified videos from its site.
Similarly to YouTube, Pornhub used to allow unverified users to upload content to its website but that will change in a move which the platform has described as ““the most comprehensive safeguards in user-generated platform history.”
A blog post on the Pornhub site reads: “As part of our policy to ban unverified uploaders, we have now also suspended all previously uploaded content that was not created by content partners or members of the Model Program.
“This means every piece of Pornhub content is from verified uploaders, a requirement that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter have yet to institute.
“Leading non-profit organisations and advocacy groups acknowledge our efforts to date at combating illegal content have been effective.
“Over the last three years, Facebook self-reported 84 million instances of child sexual abuse material. During that same period, the independent, third-party Internet Watch Foundation reported 118 incidents on Pornhub.
“That is still 118 too many, which is why we are committed to taking every necessary action.”
Pornhub did not confirm how many videos were removed but according to Motherboard, the number of videos which appeared in its search function went from 13.5 million to 4.7 million yesterday morning (December 14).
The move from Pornhub comes after a recent New York Times opinion piece claimed the website was “infested with rape videos”.