Visa and Mastercard said on Thursday that they had severed connections with MindGeek, the owner of the website Pornhub, following a lawsuit that raised concerns about whether the payment companies were supporting child pornography.
Last week, a federal court in California denied Visa’s move to dismiss a complaint filed by a woman alleging that the firm aided the dissemination of child pornography on Pornhub and other websites operated by its parent company MindGeek.
Visa stated that the business “strongly disagrees with this decision” and that it “does not enable the use of our network for unlawful activity.”
According to a MindGeek spokeswoman, the firm and all of its platforms, including Pornhub, “have never condoned” child sexual assault materials or other unlawful material.
“It goes against our beliefs and our commitment to providing the safest online experience for our users,” the spokesman said, adding that the company was confident in its security safeguards.
After The New York Times reported that several videos posted on the pornographic website featured sexual abuse of children, Visa and Mastercard discontinued relations with Pornhub in 2020. The charges were disputed by Pornhub.
However, Visa stated that Friday’s court decision has generated further confusion regarding the function of TrafficJunky, MindGeek’s advertising subsidiary.
“As a result of the court’s judgement, we shall suspend TrafficJunky’s Visa acceptance rights until further notice.”
