Pornhub Makes a Huge Change to Website

The fallout from Nicholas Kristof's expose of Pornhub continues. The website has begun removing all videos from unverified users, reports Engadget. The change marks "a fundamental shift in the way one of the largest porn sites in the world operates," per Vice. How fundamental? It appears that millions of videos have been removed since Sunday. By the outlet's count, Pornhub had about 13.5 million videos prior to the start of the video purge. As of Monday morning, the figure was down to 4.7 million, though it briefly rose to 7.2 million, meaning the final number remains in flux. Last week, the website prohibited uploads from unverified users, and the new rule takes things further by ditching their previously uploaded videos.

Kristof alleged that videos of underage girls have proliferated on the site because of woefully inadequate moderation, and he said suggested search topics encouraged users to look for videos of minors. Pornhub continues to deny wrongdoing and says its rules are now stricter than those of other big-name websites. The new change "means every piece of Pornhub content is from verified uploaders, a requirement that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat, and Twitter have yet to institute," says the company. (Credit card companies are ditching Pornhub in the wake of Kristof's report.)