Pornhub owner MindGeek has been sold to Canadian equity firm Ethical Capital Partners (ECP). The companies have not disclosed the financial terms of the deal yet.
The Luxembourg-based MindGeek has often been mired in controversy. It has been accused of spreading child pornography.
In 2022, the company’s Chief Executive Officer had to resign after it was found that non-consensual sexual materials were posted on PornHub. The company has though maintained that the resignation of the top executive had nothing to do with the allegations. MindGeek remained a top player in the adult entertainment industry since video content became dominant on the internet. But the sensitive nature of the company has always made it controversial.
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MindGeek sold and the new owners are trying to ensure solutions are found regarding the alleged adult content appearance
“We are engaged with the team at MindGeek and with stakeholders, including content creators, advocates, law enforcement, civil society partners, and policymakers to inform our efforts and strengthen MindGeek’s secure platforms, going beyond legal and regulatory obligations,” said Solomon Friedman, Ethical Capital founding partner after the acquisition.
He added that the company’s current executive team will run Pornhub, however, due to the nature of the business, didn’t reveal who would head the world’s leading adult content website.
Payment system suffered
In 2020, Pornhub dealt with Visa and Mastercard terminating their payment network for the site over illegal content appearing on the platform. The accusation of promoting child pornography has affected the company’s prospects in recent years. And the new owners must be very cautious with the concern.
Sexual content is discouraged by the states in different forms. The government of Nepal has also blocked thousand of porn sites reasoning that they could play a part in igniting sexual violence and crimes. In 2018, the government directed regulator NTA and ISPs to coordinate and block access to 24,000 porn sites. Pornhub is also banned from access in Nepal.
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It’s reported that MindGeek gets 115 million visitors to the site every day on its adult websites such as Pornhub, Brazzers, etc.
Do you think porn sites should be freely able to publish content on their mobile and computer devices without acknowledging its social effects? Do share your views in the comments below.
