Visa and Mastercard banned from using their cards on Pornhub

Mastercard and Visa have announced that they will block the use of their credit cards to make purchases on Pornhub, amid accusations that the pornographic website featured videos of rape and minors in sexual acts.

They made the decision this week after an investigation by New York Times opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof, who also argued that the site publishes revenge pornography and videos filmed without the consent of participants.

Mastercard said it was ending the use of its cards on Pornhub because its own investigation confirmed it was violating rules prohibiting illegal activity. The company said it was investigating other websites to determine if they had illegal content.

Visa said it is suspending the use of its cards on Pornhub although it has yet to complete its investigation.

Pornhub issued a statement calling the measures “exceptionally disappointing”. Two days ago, the company announced measures to protect itself against images of abuse, non-consensual activity, the appearance of underage models and that it was banning downloading of material by unverified users.

“This is shocking news for the hundreds of thousands of models who depend on our platform for a living,” Pornhub said.

The company said its site had more than 42 billion visits last year.

Dawn Hawkins, senior vice president and executive director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said her organization met with Visa and Mastercard months ago to ask them to stop processing payments at Pornhub. “We thank both companies for these important changes,” he added.