One of the internet's most popular purveyors of pornography has removed all unverified content from its website.
Pornhub said it took the step last week in an effort to combat the rising tide of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) flooding the internet. Unverified uploaders have been banned from posting new content, and downloads have been eliminated.
Currently, only content partners and people within the site's Model Program can upload content to Pornhub. However, the site plans to implement a verification process in the new year that will allow any user to upload content "upon successful completion of identification protocol."
Announcing the changes on their website, Pornhub compared their approach to verification with that of other companies with a huge online presence.
"As part of our policy to ban unverified uploaders, we have now also suspended all previously uploaded content that was not created by content partners or members of the Model Program. This means every piece of Pornhub content is from verified uploaders, a requirement that platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter have yet to institute," announced Pornhub.
The company said that its efforts to combat the appearance of illegal content on its site had "been effective."
"Over the last three years, Facebook self-reported 84 million instances of child sexual abuse material. During that same period, the independent, third-party Internet Watch Foundation reported 118 incidents on Pornhub," stated the site.
"That is still 118 too many, which is why we are committed to taking every necessary action."
Pornhub closed their announcement by stating that "all social media platforms share the responsibility to combat illegal material."
The content purge follows the recent creation of Pornhub's Trusted Flagger Program, an initiative that empowers 40 non-profit organizations to alert the site of content they think may violate Pornhub's terms of service.
Partner organizations have a direct line to the site's moderation team, and any content flagged by a Trusted Flagger is disabled immediately.
Pornhub voluntarily partnered with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to report incidents of CSAM that appear on its site. In early 2021, NCMEC will release the total number of CSAM incidents reported on Pornhub.