Visa to Stop Processing Payments for Pornhub's Advertising Arm
In a blow to Pornhub, Visa has decided to stop accepting payments for the adult video site’s advertising arm, TrafficJunky.
In December 2020, Visa suspended its credit card services with Pornhub after the site was found to be circulating child porn and sex-trafficking videos. The company is now expanding the suspension to cover TrafficJunky in response to a lawsuit that claims Visa enabled Pornhub to profit off the child porn videos.
“Accordingly, we will suspend TrafficJunky’s Visa acceptance privileges based on the court’s decision until further notice,” said Visa CEO Alfred Kelly in a Thursday statement(Opens in a new window). In addition, the suspension covers any affiliated advertising services with MindGeek, Pornhub’s parent company.
However, Visa is making one exemption to the suspension. "Visa can be used only at MindGeek studio sites that feature adult professional actors in legal adult entertainment,” Kelly said.
Pornhub and MindGeek didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the Visa suspension could further crater the company’s business. Currently, Pornhub only accepts payments via bank transfer and cryptocurrency, making it more of hassle for users to pay for Pornhub Premium.
Kelly announced the new suspension after a US court denied the company’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which alleges Visa continued to process payments for Pornhub, even though it was aware of the child pornography over the site. The lawsuit comes from Serena Fleites, who was 13 when a sexual explicit video of her was made by a boyfriend and posted on Pornhub.
It could take years before the court reaches a final verdict on the case. But in the meantime, Visa “strongly disagrees” with the judge’s decision to deny the
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