YouTube bans Pornhub channel for ‘multiple violations of community rules’ reports The Verge. According to Google, the Pornhub account violated YouTube’s external linking policy, which prohibits users from linking to content prohibited on the platform, such as pornography.
“Upon review, we terminated the channel Pornhub Official following multiple violations of our Community Guidelines,” YouTube spokesperson Jack Malon tells The Verge. “We enforce our policies equally for everyone, and channels that repeatedly violate or are dedicated to violative content are terminated.”
Pornhub’s YouTube channel, which had nearly 900,000 subscribers before it was removed, posted safe-for-work content promoting the site and its community. The company also applied an age restriction to videos posted on YouTube, which required viewers to be 18 years or older, and “vehemently denies” claims that it posted or linked to adult content.
“Pornhub maintains the absolute best trust and safety measures on the internet and takes special care to ensure it does not violate any of YouTube’s Community Guidelines,” a Pornhub spokesperson tells, who asked to remain anonymous due to safety reasons related to doxing. “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.”
News of Pornhub’s removal from YouTube comes months after Instagram permanently banned the site’s adult account, citing violations of nudity, adult content and sexual harassment policies. Like YouTube, Instagram also claims that Pornhub encouraged Instagram users to leave the site to view adult content. Pornhub responded to the ban with an open letter criticizing Instagram for removing its “fully PG” account (PG – age rating – allowed with parental supervision), while other creators continue to post content with “nudity and overt sexuality with no repercussions”.
Pressure continues to mount around Pornhub and its Luxembourg-based parent company MindGeek, with some accusing the site of failing to moderate content and allowing videos containing child abuse and non-consensual sex to appear.
These concerns led to the resignation of Pornhub CEO Feras Antoon and COO David Tassillo, and affected Pornhub’s relationships with other companies. In 2020, Visa and Mastercard disabled transactions on Pornhub due to the site’s presence of “illegal content”, although both companies are still facing a lawsuit accusing them of “helping MindGeek monetize child porn”.
Loading comments …