Pornhub has a major payments problem as it heads into 2021

Earlier this month, Visa temporarily suspended purchases on adult entertainment platform Pornhub.

This followed allegations made in a New York Times report of child abuse and nonconsensual activity on the venture’s site.

Since then, Mastercard and Discover have cut ties with Pornhub and banned customers from making purchases on its platform.

Pornhub has taken action in response to the allegations, including expanded moderation and banning downloads.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our community,” it said in an online statement. “Our core values such as inclusivity, freedom of expression and privacy are only possible when our platform is trusted by our users.”

“This is why we have always been committed to eliminating illegal content, including non-consensual material and child sexual abuse material. Every online platform has the moral responsibility to join this fight, and it requires collective action and constant vigilance.”

“Over the years, we have put in place robust measures to protect our platform from non-consensual content, and we are constantly improving our trust and safety policy to better flag, remove, review and report illegal material. We hope that we have demonstrated our dedication to leading by example.”

But what happens if Visa and Mastercard continue to push back? Pornhub could ramp up its use of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin et al, however, remain a niche thing. Like it or not, if you lose the two biggest payment processing networks, then you’re in trouble.

A glimmer of hope

The first steps have been taken on the long road back to mainstream acceptance.

Earlier this week, Visa said it would allow customers to make payments on some adult websites owned by Pornhub’s parent company, MindGeek.

“Following a thorough review, we will reinstate acceptance privileges for MindGeek sites that offer professionally produced adult studio content that is subject to requirements designed to ensure compliance with the law,” it said.