What just happened? YouTube has removed Pornhub's channel from the platform for "multiple violations" of its community guidelines. The Google-owned company said the removal was for violating a policy that prohibits links to sites that host content not allowed on YouTube.
Pornhub's YouTube channel had been around since 2014 and managed to amass 900,000 subscribers before being banned. It posted safe-for-work videos promoting the popular adult entertainment network and its performers. Variety notes that some of the channel's content included series like Advice for Models, Pornhub Models, and Pornhub Literacy 101, as well as sections on fashion, music and the Pornhub Awards. The channel also included an age restriction on its videos that required viewers to be over 18.
Pornhub's channel no longer appears on YouTube search, and its URL is showing a 404 error.
"Upon review, we terminated the channel Pornhub Official following multiple violations of our community guidelines," YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon said in a statement to Variety. "We enforce our policies equally for everyone, and channels that repeatedly violate or are dedicated to violative content are terminated."
MindGeek, the parent company of Pornhub, said it "vehemently denied" that its YouTube content had linked out to porn sites. "Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of discrimination against those in the adult industry, a trend seen across social media and all other facets of life, especially as groups disingenuously conflate consensual adult content with exploitation," said a spokesperson.
Anti-pornography group National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) wrote that it flagged content on Porhub's YouTube account on Friday that it believed violated YouTube policies.
The ban comes just a few months after Meta-owned Instagram booted the Pornhub account, which had over 13 million followers and more than 6,200 posts, for nudity, adult content, and sexual solicitation. Like YouTube, Instagram claimed the account encouraged people to visit Pornhub. TikTok also removed Pornhub's account last week following a complaint from NCOSE.
In 2020, Mastercard and Visa cut ties with Pornhub following a New York Times expose that claimed MindGeek monetizes videos of rape and the sexual abuse of underage girls---the site banned downloads and non-verified uploads in response to the article. Both financial giants are still facing a lawsuit that accuses them of intending "to help MindGeek monetize child porn."
In June, both MindGeek and Pornhub were hit with lawsuits over allegations of hosting non-consensual sex videos. Thirty-four women are suing parent company MindGeek for allegedly being "one of the largest human trafficking ventures in the world" and "likely the largest non-regulatory repository of child pornography in North America."