Visa and Mastercard suspend payments to Pornhub following New York Times investigation
On December 10, 2020, Mastercard and Visa announced they were ceasing card-payment processing for Pornhub after a New York Times investigation by Nicholas Kristof alleged the platform hosted child sexual abuse material and non-consensual content. Pornhub's parent company MindGeek responded by removing approximately 10 million unverified user-uploaded videos. Critics including digital rights groups raised concerns about payment processors functioning as extrajudicial content regulators while welcoming action against illegal material.
Dates: Kristof article published December 4, 2020; Mastercard and Visa actions December 10, 2020. Parties: MindGeek (Pornhub parent); Mastercard; Visa; The New York Times; affected adult performers and sex workers. What happened: Mastercard said an internal review had 'confirmed unlawful content' on Pornhub and terminated payment processing. Visa suspended processing pending its own investigation. MindGeek denied systemic problems and removed all unverified user-uploaded content (about 10 million videos), pivoting to verified-uploader-only. Processors' stated reasons: Verified illegal content (CSAM and non-consensual material) on the platform. Affected parties' responses: MindGeek called the decision 'exceptionally disappointing.' Sex workers and digital rights advocates including EFF criticized the broader pattern of financial deplatforming impacting legal adult content producers and verified performers. Outcome: Mastercard and Visa bans remained in place; PayPal had previously cut ties in 2019. MindGeek faced class-action litigation in the U.S. and parliamentary investigation in Canada; its founders resigned in 2022. The case is frequently cited in policy debates about payment processors as de facto content regulators.