How DOES P*rnhub “Get Away With It”?

On May 17, I participated in a ThinkIn (read: live Zoom) conversation about the knotty issues surrounding P*rnhub. Joining me were Kate Isaacs of Not Your P//rn and Honza Cervenka, an attorney who focuses on revenge p*rn. The whole thing happened on Tortoise, a “slow news” platform that gets people together to talk about important topics. Ours was “How Does P//rnhub Get Away With It?”

In this case the “it” that they’re getting away with is hosting images of IBSA, or Image Based Sexual Abuse. That means , non-consensual content, revenge p*rn, content featuring underage people, and more. Despite outcry from legal, consensual s3x workers, P//rnhub has allowed some of this content to proliferate on its platform, alongside illegally obtained pirated material of ethically made smut, for over a decade. Only recently has public outcry gained steam, as advocacy groups, lawyers, the Christian right, and more get involved.

Some of this is great—nobody except bad freaking people wants to see IBSA online. Secks workers and smut producers don’t want to see their profits drained by piracy and the competition of non-consenting amateurs. But some of it’s also awful, because the results of the outcry tend to penalize s*x workers more than criminals. And that’s not only harming secks workers, it’s making the internet a less safe place to be.

But, rather than explaining all of that here, I’ll direct you to the video of our chat, which you can watch on the Tortoise website, on YouTube, or right here.