Since sex work is the world’s oldest and probably most stigmatized profession, it has made us as a community much tougher and more persistent. No matter how the outside world tries to push us down, we always fight back. When Mastercard and Visa made the decision to block their card use on Pornhub, we did not plan to stay silent either.
The story that started it all
Earlier this month on December 4, an article titled “The Children of Pornhub” by Nicholas Kristoff was published by the New York Times. To sum it up, Kristoff highlights the issue of many cases of child sexual abuse material being posted on Pornhub. Since Pornhub has allowed non-verified creators to post porn on the site as well, content like this has appeared on the site.
A huge help to Kristoff in writing this article has been the organization Exodus Cry. They have been leading their campaign, Traffickinghub, for several months now with the goal to shut down Pornhub. Persuading big credit card companies to cut ties with Pornhub has been just the first step and has left many sex workers wondering what could be next.
The experiences of the victims whose abuse material had been posted for the world to see are perfectly valid. We as a community have been raising our concerns about the lack of mandatory verification for content uploads on tube sites for a while. Unfortunately, when Pornhub finally announced changes in their policy, it seemed a little too late and the credit card companies had made up their minds.
The current situation on Pornhub
On December 15, Pornhub made an announcement that they have “banned unverified uploaders from posting new content, eliminated downloads, and partnered with dozens of non-profit organizations, among other major policy changes.” On top of that, they “have now also suspended all previously uploaded content that was not created by content partners or members of the Model Program.”
Sadly, these changes seemed to come a little too late because Visa and MasterCard had already made the decision to cut ties with Pornhub. Because of this, transactions on the site are currently disabled and verified creators can only earn ad revenue at the moment. It is still unclear when and if things will return to its previous state.
Verified creators’ and sex workers’ responses
These changes have left a lot of online sex workers upset and scared, prompting significant reactions.
On December 18, adult entertainer Mary Moody posted a heartfelt video on Twitter, sharing her experiences along with hashtags #VisaVictims and #MasterCensors. Moody encouraged others to share their experiences as well. This video inspired many adult content creators to share their part of the story.
“Taking away Visa, Mastercard and Discover from Pornhub and Modelhub literally only stops adult, verified legal sex workers from making an income. It doesn’t help victims in any way, it doesn’t help anyone, it only creates victims. And I’m freaking out cause my income is just gone,” Moody said in her video.
The only way we can make a difference is if they hear our stories.
I'm begging you to make your own video and share it.
Don't let @Visa @Mastercard & @Discover censor our voices!#VisaVictims #MasterCensors pic.twitter.com/AXizJffidx
— 🌈 Mary Moody ✨ Free OF (@missmarymoody) December 18, 2020
Other creators that followed Moody’s example and voiced their opinions about the changes included Ginger Banks, Reya Sunshine and Bonni B. Good.
“Them taking this away from Pornhub is scary cause if it can happen to Pornhub, what’s up for all the small fries after that?” Sunshine said in her video.
Please share 🙏🏼
This is my personal story on @Visa @Mastercard & @Discover discontinuing their services w/ Pornhub.
It affects performers’ income and the future of porn. It hit me especially hard since I grew up with religious abuse.#VisaVictims #MasterCensors pic.twitter.com/15We7Q5FxR
— Reya Sunshine 💕 (@Reya__Sunshine) December 18, 2020
After Visa, Mastercard and Discover stopped payment processing Pornhub, many online sex workers have been asking themselves this question: If a company as popular and big as Pornhub could be impacted like this, who would be next? This is definitely one of the things that have motivated people to speak up.
“The only people that were uploading videos that were able to be purchased were sex workers,” Banks pointed out.
Do sex workers deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?
Don't let @Visa @Mastercard & @Discover censor our voices!#VisaVictims #MasterCensors pic.twitter.com/gLo9Pvu2qz
— 💕Ginger Banks💕 (@gingerbanks1) December 18, 2020
This is the fact that credit card companies and Traffickinghub supporters may not have considered. All this this time, only verified creators were able to earn money from their content. Those who uploaded the illegal material on Pornhub never earned the money from it in the first place — the decision of Visa, Mastercard and Discover hasn’t really been a punishment for them.
“I’m doing legal work and I do not deserve to be discriminated against,” said Good at the end of her video.
For many of online sex workers, after dealing with the stigma from society since the day one, this has been the last straw. People are tired of being discriminated against and pushed around and are speaking up now to make a change.
Thanks @missmarymoody for encouraging us to speak out.
"The only way we can make a difference is if they hear our stories.
I'm begging you to make your own video and share it."
Don't let @Visa @Mastercard & @Discover censor our voices!#VisaVictims #MasterCensors #pornhub pic.twitter.com/FJ3HbtIj6W
— Bonni Good (@bonni_b_good) December 19, 2020
Some words from #VisaVictims and #MasterCensors creator Mary Moody
When asked what inspired her to make the initial video and encourage others to share their stories as well, this is what Moody said:
Fear. Fear for the many workers I know that rely on income from these sites for survival. Fear of the precedence Visa, MasterCard, and Discover’s censorship has set.
These credit card companies took income from hundreds of thousands of consensual sex workers during the pandemic holidays directly after an extremist, religious anti-porn group presented them with stories that represent terrible outliers. Had they consulted any members of the adult industry this would not have happened. This religious anti-porn group used terrible stories to mislead them about the nature of the industry. Only by forcing them to hear the truth from sex workers about their irrational actions effect on us will we be able to change the narrative.
Although this battle seems like a hard one to win, we are stronger together. Every story shared matters more than you think. This isn’t just about Pornhub, this is about the adult industry as a whole.
“I urge anyone and everyone in the adult industry to make a video, and all our fans to share it far and wide. This is not just about Pornhub, this is about every site where we consensually work, communicate, and sell our content. It is also about combating legislative action driven by the same false narrative this extremist group is sharing,” Moody said.
“As for those who have already shared a short video on Twitter of their story, I have already thanked each one personally and I cannot thank them enough. The continual outpouring of emotional stories has me in tears every day. As these videos become more prevalent, there is no way they can ignore our voices,” she added.
Although many stories have already been shared, there is still time to add yours by tweeting your video with hashtags #VisaVictims and #MasterCensors . Help our voices be heard by sharing yours!
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Alison Sparks is a solo adult content creator and writer. Find her on Twitter at @itsalisonsparks and email her via alison@ynotcam.com.
Image via Pexels here.
