A year after buying Pornhub, its new owners boast of being an example to follow in avoiding scandals involving child pornography and non-consensual content online.
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“We are convinced that the rest of the Internet, including social networks, has a lot to learn from our policies in this area,” says Solomon Friedman, a lawyer who is vice president of compliance at Ethical Capital Partners. (ECP).
Photo Martin Chevalier
A few days before the anniversary of the transaction which allowed this private investment fund to acquire the parent company of the pornographic giant Pornhub, two of its executives agreed to speak with The newspaper.
This attitude contrasts with the days of the “old” Pornhub, where a spokesperson simply answered questions from the media by email, under a false name no less.
Solomon Friedman and Sarah Bain, a former spokesperson for the Liberal Party of Canada who is now vice-president of public engagement at ECP, are clearly enthusiastic about the progress made over the past year, particularly in the area of security and privacy .
Photo Martin Chevalier
Your papers please
Since January 2021, a user must confirm who they are with an official ID before uploading a pornographic video.
In October 2023, Pornhub also began requiring documentation that proves the age, identity and consent of everyone who appears in the images, which was not the case in the past (the uploader was supposed to have them on hand).
For years, this important gap allowed thousands of videos of an intimate nature, shared non-consensually, to become accessible in just a few clicks on the platform.
- Listen to the interview with Me Nada Boumeftah, lawyer in criminal and penal law, as well as in youth protection on the microphone of Alexandre Dubé via
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A scandal broke out in December 2020, with the publication of a shocking article from New York Times also mentioning the presence of videos of minors and sexual assault on the platform.
Since then, 10 million unverified videos have been removed from the platform, the former bosses of Mindgeek (Pornhub’s parent company) resigned and the company was bought by Ethical Capital Partners, which renamed it Aylo.
Change of tone
ECP also named Alexzandra Kekesi as head of brand and community at Pornhub, and regularly features her as the face of the company.
Photo Martin Chevalier
A graduate in women’s studies at Concordia University, she takes the reins after starting at the bottom of the corporate ladder.
The 36-year-old woman says she is convinced that the recently implemented policies, more strict than those of their direct competitors, reassure users.
“As proof, we continue to see our traffic increase steadily,” she said in an interview.
“We are convinced that companies want to advertise on a platform that highlights security and content verification,” adds Solomon Friedman.
At the same time, Ethical Capital Partners met around ten elected officials and political advisors in Ottawa over the past year.
The lobbying effort comes as two bills being debated in parliament, one on user age verification and the other on online harm, could force Pornhub to once again tighten the rules .
The Final Years of Pornhub
> December 2020
THE New York Times publishes a shocking article about the presence of child pornography, sexual violence and non-consensual content on Pornhub.
> December 2020
Visa and Mastercard cut ties with Mindgeek and its subsidiaries.
> February 2021
The Canadian parliament sets up a committee to study the protection of privacy and reputation on Pornhub. The leaders are summoned to appear.
> April 2021
The house under construction of Feras Antoon, co-owner and CEO of Mindgeek, is the prey of an arson attack in Montreal.
> March 2023
Mindgeek is acquired by a private investment fund, Ethical Capital Partners, based in Ottawa. The fund is nevertheless registered in the Virgin Islands, recognized as a tax haven, according to media reports.