#956 - Laila Mickelwait - How Pornhub Became The Internet’s Biggest Crime Scene

Overview

This episode dives into the dark underbelly of Pornhub, exposing how the platform became a hub for exploitation, trafficking, and illegal content. Laila Mickelwait shares her journey in leading the fight against the site, the systemic failures that allowed these crimes to persist, and the broader implications for tech regulation and online safety.

Notable Quotes

- Pornhub is not a porn site; it's a crime scene. – Chris Williamson, summarizing the platform's systemic issues.

- My abuser put me in a mental prison, but Pornhub gave me a life sentence. – Laila Mickelwait, quoting a survivor on the lasting trauma of online exploitation.

- The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they turn. – Laila Mickelwait, on the ongoing fight for accountability.

🕵️‍♀️ The Scale of Exploitation

- Laila Mickelwait revealed that Pornhub allowed uploads with no ID or consent verification, enabling the distribution of child sexual abuse material, rape videos, and other non-consensual content.

- In 2019 alone, 6.9 million videos were uploaded, with 56 million pieces of content by 2020. Moderation was grossly inadequate, with only 10 moderators reviewing thousands of videos per shift.

- Survivors often faced insurmountable challenges in getting their videos removed, with some flagged videos requiring over 15 reports before review.

💰 Financial Pressure as a Catalyst for Change

- Mickelwait targeted credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard, which were key to Pornhub's monetization strategy.

- Public pressure and lawsuits led to these companies cutting ties, forcing Pornhub to delete 91% of its content—the largest takedown in internet history.

- Despite these measures, Pornhub attempted to regain financial partnerships, highlighting the ongoing battle for accountability.

📜 Legal and Regulatory Failures

- Pornhub’s parent company, MindGeek, repeatedly rebranded to evade scrutiny, despite mounting evidence of intentional policies enabling exploitation.

- Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was invoked unsuccessfully by Pornhub, as courts ruled the company actively curated and monetized illegal content.

- Civil litigation uncovered damning internal documents, including refusal to remove keywords like minor and childhood, which were profitable categories.

🌐 The Path Forward for Online Safety

- Mickelwait advocates for mandatory third-party age and consent verification for all user-generated content, leveraging technologies like biometric scans and government ID checks.

- Financial institutions are urged to adopt anti-exploitation policies globally, similar to anti-money laundering standards.

- Broader societal efforts, including parental tools and education, are needed to address the normalization of self-generated explicit content among minors.

🤖 The Emerging Threat of AI in Exploitation

- AI-generated deepfakes and child sexual abuse material pose new challenges, with laws like the Take It Down Act criminalizing such content.

- Mickelwait emphasizes that robust verification systems can prevent AI-generated exploitation from being uploaded to platforms.

- The ethical implications of AI in creating lifelike but non-consensual content are a growing concern, requiring proactive regulation.