How Pornhub Became The Internet’s Biggest Crime Scene - Laila Mickelwait
Here are the top 10 key takeaways from Laila Mickelwait's explosive investigation that exposed how Pornhub became a hub for illegal content and sparked the movement that brought down the world's largest porn site.
1. Pornhub operated as an unmoderated crime scene rather than a legitimate adult website
Pornhub allowed anyone to upload content with just an email address and no verification of age or consent. The platform became infested with videos of child sexual abuse, rape, trafficking, and revenge porn because they failed to implement basic safety measures. With only 10 moderators in Cyprus handling millions of videos across multiple sites, content review was superficial at best. Moderators were expected to process 700-2,000 videos per 8-hour shift with sound off, focusing on quantity rather than detecting illegal content.
The platform's negligence was systematic and intentional. Internal documents revealed that Pornhub knew about illegal content but chose profit over protection. They ignored police requests to remove videos of child abuse for months, allowed anonymous uploads through VPNs, and failed to report known child sexual abuse to authorities for 13 years despite legal requirements. This wasn't oversight but deliberate policy designed to maximize content volume and revenue.
2. A single activist's investigation sparked a global movement that brought down the world's largest porn site
Laila Mickelwait discovered Pornhub's upload vulnerabilities in February 2020 while putting her baby to sleep, testing the system with a random video of her rug. Within 10 minutes, she had uploaded content without any identity verification or consent forms. This revelation led to the creation of the #Traffickinghub hashtag and petition, which eventually gathered 2.3 million signatures from every country worldwide. The movement grew from a few thousand social media followers to a global campaign involving 600 organizations and hundreds of survivors.
The campaign's success demonstrates how individual action can create massive institutional change. Mickelwait's op-ed in the Washington Examiner, followed by strategic targeting of credit card companies, created a domino effect that forced Pornhub to delete 91% of its content. The movement's power came from its ability to connect survivors with legal representation and create sustained public pressure through media coverage and corporate accountability measures.
3. Credit card companies held the ultimate power to force accountability
The most effective strategy proved to be targeting Visa and Mastercard rather than trying to regulate Pornhub directly. Former Pornhub owner Fabian Thylmann even advised Mickelwait that credit card companies were the platform's "Achilles' heel." When public pressure and lawsuits finally forced these companies to cut ties with Pornhub in late 2020, the site was compelled to delete over 50 million videos and images. This represented the largest content takedown in internet history according to the Financial Times.
Credit card companies initially resisted but eventually capitulated due to litigation pressure and high-profile advocacy. Bill Ackman played a crucial role by leveraging his personal connections and appearing on CNBC's Squawk Box to publicly shame Visa's CEO. The threat of being associated with child exploitation finally motivated these financial institutions to act, demonstrating their power to enforce compliance across the global internet economy.
4. The corporate structure involved deliberate obfuscation and repeated criminal violations
Pornhub's parent company underwent multiple name changes and ownership transfers whenever legal troubles emerged. Starting as Mansef in 2007, it became Manwin, then MindGeek, and finally Aylo, with each transition occurring after criminal charges or investigations. The company was funded by a $362 million loan from Colbeck Capital, whose 125 secret investors included major institutions like JP Morgan Chase and Cornell University. This corporate shell game was designed to evade accountability while maintaining the same operations and personnel.
The pattern of criminality was consistent across ownership changes. Original owners faced money laundering charges, Fabian Thylmann was convicted of tax evasion, and current executives face criminal charges for profiting from sex trafficking. A hidden majority shareholder, Bernd Bergmair, was eventually exposed and is now being sued personally by victims. This structure allowed the company to continue harmful practices while shielding individual accountability through complex corporate arrangements.
5. Victims faced systematic harassment and impossible barriers to content removal
Survivors had to navigate a deliberately obstructive system designed to keep illegal content online. Pornhub employed only one person to review 706,000 flagged videos, and wouldn't even queue videos for review unless they received over 15 flags. Victims like 13-year-old Serena from Bakersfield were forced to "prove" their victimization and age to get content removed. Even when successful, videos would be re-uploaded immediately, creating an endless cycle of trauma.
The psychological impact was devastating, with 50% of image-based sexual abuse victims experiencing suicidal ideation. Victims described their situation as "immortalization of trauma," with one stating that while her abuser put her in a mental prison, Pornhub gave her a life sentence. The download button on every video enabled infinite redistribution, making complete removal virtually impossible and forcing victims into a "sadistic game of whack-a-mole."
6. Law enforcement and legal discovery revealed intentional corporate malfeasance
Court documents accidentally released in Alabama revealed thousands of pages of internal communications proving Pornhub's knowing participation in illegal content distribution. Depositions of executives, managers, and employees under oath exposed systematic policies designed to maximize profit while ignoring victim welfare. The company tracked earnings from categories like "teen" content to the dollar, knowing it included illegal material but refusing to remove it due to profitability.
Legal discovery also revealed that Pornhub lost Section 230 protections because they actively participated in content creation rather than serving as a neutral platform. They created thumbnails, made recommendations, duplicated content across sister sites, and used keywords like "minor" and "childhood" to drive traffic to illegal content. These actions made them liable as content creators rather than passive hosts, opening them to both civil and criminal prosecution.
7. The platform's verification system was fundamentally flawed and enabled continued abuse
Even "verified" uploaders could distribute illegal content, as demonstrated by Rocky Shay Franklin, who uploaded 23 videos of raping a 12-year-old boy while maintaining verified status. The verification process only confirmed uploader identity, not the age or consent of people appearing in videos. This system provided false legitimacy while enabling continued exploitation, with verified accounts actually making it easier to distribute illegal content consistently.
Current verification requirements emerged only after extensive litigation and public pressure. Since September 2024, Pornhub has been forced to verify the age and consent of individuals appearing in videos, not just uploaders. However, this change came only after nearly 300 victims filed 27 lawsuits, including certified class actions representing tens of thousands of child victims seeking potentially billions in damages.
8. The professional adult industry actively opposed Pornhub's practices
Legitimate adult performers and producers became crucial allies in the fight against Pornhub because the platform was destroying their businesses through copyright theft and unfair competition. Professional porn stars spent hours daily trying to remove their stolen content from tube sites, often finding illegal material during their searches. The established adult industry has followed USC 2257 regulations since 1988, requiring ID verification for all performers and maintaining records subject to DOJ inspection.
This alliance highlights the distinction between regulated professional adult content and the unregulated free-for-all that Pornhub represented. Professional performers understood that age and consent verification protects both the industry and society, while Pornhub's model undermined these standards for profit. Their support lent credibility to the campaign and demonstrated that the issue wasn't about opposing adult content but ensuring basic safety standards.
9. Technology solutions exist but require implementation through policy and financial pressure
Age and consent verification technology is already available and scalable through companies like Yoti, which use biometric scanning combined with government ID verification and liveness detection. The technology exists to verify every person in every video on user-generated content sites, preventing both underage material and non-consensual content. Third-party verification is essential to protect user privacy and prevent companies like Pornhub from exploiting personal data for profit.
The most effective implementation strategy involves financial institutions adopting anti-online exploitation policies similar to anti-money laundering requirements. Rather than attempting to regulate every website globally, requiring credit card companies to refuse service to non-compliant platforms would create instant, worldwide compliance. This approach leverages existing corporate power structures to enforce safety standards across international boundaries.
10. The fight represents a broader battle for internet safety and corporate accountability
The Pornhub case demonstrates how major tech platforms can operate with impunity while causing massive societal harm. The deterrent effect is already visible, with competing sites proactively removing illegal content and changing upload processes to avoid similar consequences. This case established important legal precedents about platform liability and the limits of Section 230 protections when companies actively participate in content creation and distribution.
The campaign's success provides a template for holding other harmful platforms accountable through coordinated public pressure, strategic litigation, and financial leverage. With new federal laws like the Take It Down Act addressing AI-generated non-consensual content, the legal framework is evolving to address emerging threats. The movement shows how persistent advocacy can force systemic change even against powerful corporate interests with extensive resources and legal protection.