An alliance of international campaign groups has formed to push for the prohibition of credit card payments on pornographic websites.
In a letter sent to major credit card companies, a coalition of 10 campaign groups is calling for “the immediate suspension of payments on porn sites”.
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Ten credit card companies, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express, have received the letter from the group claiming include “experts and organisations dedicated to combating sexual exploitation and abuse”.
Pornographic videos of known sex trafficking victims are still being hosted on mainstream pornography websites “at the time of this letter,” the group claims.
The campaigners also argue that a study has reported that “pornography performers experience physical trauma on the film set, often leave the industry with financial insecurity and mental health problems, and also experience health risks that aren’t limited to sexually transmitted infections.”
Payment companies are keeping their distance
Mastercard has says it will investigate the claims made in the letter. If the accusations of illegal activity prove to be true, the company promises, it will sever any connection with the pornographic sites.
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By GlobalDataAmerican Express has had a global policy in place since 2000 that says it prohibits transactions for adult digital content where the risk is deemed unusually high, with a total ban on online pornography.
Nonetheless, the campaign groups have also sent the letters to the US card giant, claiming that American Express payment options have been offered on pornography sites.
Last year, Paypal, the global online payment company, announced it would no longer be supporting payments to Pornhub as their policy forbids supporting “certain sexually oriented materials or services”.
Porn industry is on the defensive
The adult entertainment industry has called the claims baseless. “They are not only factually wrong, but intentionally misleading,” says leading website Pornhub.
A spokesperson for the site says the letter was sent by organisations “who attempt to police people’s sexual orientation and activity”.
Pornhub, reportedly the world’s most popular porn site (it received more than 42 billion visits last year, the equivalent of 115 million visits every day) is named in the letter, which states:
“The pornography industry does not judge or verify consent in any videos on their site, let alone live webcam videos. Some sites, such as Pornhub, […] do not require age verification for any person to upload pornographic videos—let alone any metric to measure consent.”
Not so, counters the named adult site. “We have a steadfast commitment to eradicating and fighting any and all illegal content, including non-consensual and under-aged material,” a spokesman says.
“Any suggestion otherwise is categorically and factually inaccurate”.
