Mastercard won't allow its cards to be used on Pornhub after its review of the site uncovered unlawful content; Visa suspends its card usage pending a probe
Mastercard Inc. said it won't allow its cards to be used on Pornhub.com after the network's review of the website uncovered unlawful content.
BloombergJennifer Surane
Context & Ripple Effects
Mastercard and Visa are exercising the most coercive lever they hold over online platforms: the payment rail itself. Mastercard's review of Pornhub turned up unlawful content, prompting a full cutoff, while Visa suspends acceptance pending its own probe — the networks effectively auditing an adult platform's upload pipeline as a condition of doing business.
The arc runs forward from here: within days Pornhub stripped all videos from unverified accounts, cutting hosted videos from 13.5M to 7.2M, and shifted its premium service toward cryptocurrency acceptance as the card rails closed. Two years later the liability question hardened into legal fact when a court ruled Visa must face a lawsuit alleging responsibility for CSAM distribution, leading both networks to sever ties with MindGeek's ad arm in 2022.
First-order effects
Pornhub loses card payments from the two dominant networks overnight, forcing it to fall back on crypto and other rails for premium revenue while it scrambles to prove verification standards.
Second-order effects
Both networks' own review-and-suspend playbook sets a template: once one network audits a platform's content for liability, the peer can't afford to remain the compliant channel — and platforms begin pre-emptively pruning content, as Pornhub's removal of millions of unverified uploads shows.
Third-order effects
Payment networks drift deeper into de facto content moderation and platform compliance enforcement — a role that invites litigation (as the court ruling against Visa shows) and pushes disfavored platforms toward crypto rails that the networks themselves later retreat from amid regulatory uncertainty.
The trend: Card networks are becoming the internet's de facto content-governance layer, using payment access — not law or regulation — as the enforcement mechanism.
I'm a victims rights lawyer. For every 1 case involving a rape tape on Pornhub, I have 50 involving rape and CSAM being disseminated on Insta and FB. Pornhub is far from perfect. But mainstream big tech is far worse and have a built-in mechanism for harassing victims directly.
.@Mastercard has just advised me that it has confirmed the presence of illegal material on Pornhub, so it is immediately ending Mastercard use on Pornhub. It will also address the issue on other websites. This wouldn't have happened without survivors bravely speaking up.
This all could have been avoided if PornHub listened to performers when we told them to only allow verified models. MasterCard to Cut Pornhub Ties; Visa Suspends Use Pending Probe https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Does §230 apply to credit card networks? If @mastercard can shut off payments to @pornhub, does that mean credit card companies writ large could decide which paywalled sites live or die? That's a kind of speech regulation I never considered...! https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@SenatorHassan @SenHawleyPress No one wants abuse on their platforms, least of all people like me who use it to earn a living. However, if this is about abuse, why is no one going after Facebook where a large majority of it takes place? https://twitter.com/...
It would be one thing if PORNHUB wasn't doing anything. They literally just started a verification program to ensure illegal content would be handled more aggressively. Rather than go after big tech that has 50 times the cases and harms actual kids daily. Attack porn cuz sex! 🤪 h…
.@Mastercard, in light of your decision today to no longer do business with Pornhub because of illegal content, will you be making a similar decision about Facebook and Instagram, knowing there's *significantly* more illegal content on those platforms? https://twitter.com/...
Is the threshold for Mastercard and Visa withdrawing their services is finding illegal content on a site, surely they have to stop working with almost every other platform? https://www.bloomberg.com/...