Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek over mounting concerns the smut site has streamed “videos of raped and exploited women and children.”
“This is pretty obvious: any company that profits from rape, trafficking, and exploitation must be held accountable,” Sasse said in a statement provided to Faithwire. “The reporting on Pornhub has been gut-wrenching. Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek must not escape scrutiny. The Department of Justice needs to take the first step of opening an investigation.”
Sasse’s request follows a protest held Sunday, International Women’s Day, at one of the MindGeek headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Pornhub and MindGeek have been facing intense pressure since early February, when a petition was launched to have the website shut down amid allegations it is profiting off the assault, coercion, and trafficking of women and children.
“In several notable incidents over the past year,” the senator said in a letter released Tuesday morning, “Pornhub made content available worldwide showing women and girls that were victims of trafficking being raped and exploited.”
The Republican lawmaker is referring to the nearly 60 explicit videos investigators discovered on Pornhub last fall of a then-missing, 15-year-old girl, who endured horrific sexual abuse and was forced by her captor to have an abortion.
Additionally, there was recently a case involving 22 women who were lured and coerced by pornographer Michael Pratt — now a wanted fugitive — into performing various sexual acts for videos that were then uploaded to Pornhub without consent. The pornographic site has failed to take concrete actions to rid its database of Pratt’s videos, which were originally uploaded under the name “Girls Do Porn.”
All of this is evidence Pornhub is making money off video footage of “crime scenes,” according to Laila Mickelwait, director of abolition for Exodus Cry, an advocacy organization focused on ending sexual exploitation and sex trafficking.
The intense focus on Pornhub is thanks in large part to Mickelwait, who has been putting pressure on the site and its parent company since early February. The crux of her concern with Pornhub, which draws some 115 million visitors every day, is the site provides no requirement forcing “content” creators, uploaders, or participants to prove their ages with legal documentation, nor is there any way for the company to guarantee the consent of those who appear in its videos.
Mickelwait launched a petition calling for Pornhub to be shuttered. So far, it has garnered more than 424,000 signatures.
As Sasse noted, the legal risk associated with Pornhub has become so clear, PayPal announced last November it would no longer process payments for the smut site. Major credit card companies are now facing pressure to follow suit.
In a statement to Faithwire, Mickelwait praised Sasse for calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Pornhub and MindGeek.
“In recent weeks, there has been an outcry from hundreds of thousands of people around the globe who want to see Pornhub shut down based on evidence that it has been enabling and profiting from the rape and sex trafficking of both women and children,” Mickelwait said. “I join with Sen. Sasse in calling for action from the attorney general, members of Congress and relevant departments and agencies in investigating and holding accountable this company that has been complicit and profiting from mass violence and exploitation of the most vulnerable.”
“The Unites States is one of the largest consumers of Pornhub’s hardcore pornographic content, and the U.S. government has a responsibility to ensure that this company is not allowed to continue to peddle and profit from crime scenes showing the real pain and suffering of women and children packaged as masturbation material,” she continued.
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