JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – On Friday, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch (R-Miss.) signed a joint letter regarding a potential loophole on PornHub which could be used to sexually exploit children.
The letter signed by Fitch and 25 other attorneys general was started based on undercover reporting from thenationaldesk.com. The reporting indicates an alleged loophole could allow rapists and human traffickers to upload content of their victims, which could include children, and make money off of them.
When uploading content to PornHub, users are required to submit a photo ID but are not required to show their face in the material uploaded.
Individuals could make money from any sort of video they upload, regardless of whether they are in it. A technical product manager for PornHub’s parent company quoted in the story said that the company knows about the loophole, but does not want to address it because it could affect the company’s profits.
This, among other things, caused concern among those who signed the joint letter.
“Please provide us with an explanation of this “loophole;” whether Aylo and its subsidiaries do, in fact, permit content creators and performers to obscure their faces in uploaded content; and, if so, whether Aylo is taking measures to change this policy to ensure that no children or other victims are being abused for profit on any of its platforms,” the joint letter said.
In her Friday press release, Fitch also had an impassioned response in relation to the allegations.
“Profiting from abuse of others is immoral and makes the company at best an enabler of the crime and at worst complicit in it. Protecting our most vulnerable citizens is my top priority and I will fight for these victims,” Fitch said in her Friday press release.
Aylo, PornHub’s parent company, denied the accusations raised in The National Desk’s reporting, calling them “disingenuous tactics to create a damaging characterization devoid of any fact or truth.”
This would not be PornHub’s first clash with the Magnolia State. Starting on July 1, MS Senate Bill 2346 required websites like PornHub to implement “reasonable age verification methods” for Mississippians to access “material harmful to minors.” The bill’s intention was to prevent those under the age of 18 in Mississippi from viewing sexually explicit content. Citing user privacy concerns, PornHub has prevented Mississippians, regardless of age, from accessing its website content since July.
General Fitch joined Attorneys General from the following states in demanding these answers: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Only Republican attorney generals signed onto the joint letter.
