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<\/div>\nThe Pornhub acquisition has also brought a sea of legal troubles. (Representational)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Governments should stop cracking down on porn websites and instead take pride in sexual expression and help to make porn normal and “boring”, the new owner of Pornhub told AFP.<\/p>\n
Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners bought Pornhub’s parent MindGeek three months ago, bringing under its control a stable of other sites including YouPorn.<\/p>\n
The acquisition has also brought a sea of legal troubles.<\/p>\n
Its websites were pulled from the US state of Utah in May after they were ordered to verify the ages of users.<\/p>\n
In France, website owners and regulators have been locked in talks for months on how to make a 2020 age verification law work in practice.<\/p>\n
Two of MindGeek’s sites have not put in place any age verification and face a court ruling on July 7 that could ban them.<\/p>\n
“We do not want any underage users on our websites whatsoever,” said ECP founder Solomon Friedman in an interview with AFP.<\/p>\n
But he pushed back on the idea that the onus should fall on the websites, instead calling for the operating systems to find a solution.<\/p>\n
“We are strongly in support of age verification solutions that do two things: protect children effectively and do not expose personal data,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The only solution that accomplishes both of these goals is device or browser-based verification,” he said, adding that it would be “a very simple step for Google and Apple”.<\/p>\n
– Heavy pressure –<\/p>\n
MindGeek got into hot water in 2020 when the New York Times published allegations that its sites were hosting material depicting rapes and sex involving minors.<\/p>\n
The article sparked heavy pressure from regulators in several countries and Visa and MasterCard stopped processing payments.<\/p>\n
The owners spent two years trying to sell the firm, which is largely based in Canada but has a complex corporate structure spanning many of the globe’s tax havens, with its official headquarters in Luxembourg.<\/p>\n
The new owners — who include two lawyers, an ex-police officer and an Italian investor who made his fortune in the legal sale of cannabis — are keen to distance themselves from the New York Times allegations.<\/p>\n
Friedman said the company had completely changed in the past few years.<\/p>\n
He boasted that eight million pieces of content had been taken down in 2021 — a claim AFP cannot verify.<\/p>\n
“A content removal request automatically results in the content being removed,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We review it after it’s removed.”<\/p>\n
In addition, uploaders had to provide identification, all content was scanned by algorithms to filter out copyright-protected material, and it is then viewed by company staff before it hits the web.<\/p>\n
– The new cannabis –<\/p>\n
Solomon said his firm was brought in initially only to check that MindGeek was working within the law.<\/p>\n
“And what we found is not only does it comply with the law but it was an extraordinary investing opportunity, but it’s an opportunity that required specialised skills,” he said.<\/p>\n
ECP decided that they had those skills and bought the company — though it has been a stiff test since then.<\/p>\n
The Utah exit followed an early battle in Louisiana, which has a similar age verification law.<\/p>\n
Solomon said their sites were still online in Louisiana as the rules are slightly different — they are not required to collect personal information.<\/p>\n
He said he did not want to prejudge any outcomes in France, but could not rule out the possibility his sites would have to pull out.<\/p>\n
The issue has risen up the political agenda since President Emmanuel Macron promised to make protecting children from porn a priority during his bid for re-election last year.<\/p>\n
Digital minister Jean-Noel Barrot, who has labelled children accessing porn websites a “scandal”, has directly challenged ECP to explain how they will comply with the law.<\/p>\n
Solomon said he had reached out to Barrot’s office and promised to produce a report soon, insisting his firm was committed to “talk openly and proudly about the porn industry”.<\/p>\n
“I think society has moved in the direction where we are proud of sexual expression,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The fact that it’s adult is going to be boring, just like the fact that (legalised) cannabis in Canada has become boring.”<\/p>\n
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n