Victims of revenge porn never wanted to be victimized in the first place. But the largest porn site on the Internet just made their ordeal a little easier.
Pornhub released a statement today about a new reporting feature that aims to empower people who believe they have been victims of revenge porn. Previously, requests for a video to be taken down from Pornhub had to be emailed to the site. Today’s announcement said the site implemented an anonymous submission page to request the removal. The form (NSFW) requires only a name, email address and the URL of the link that the person wants taken down. It asks “Have you ever agreed to the distribution of this content?” and then requires a digital signature for authentication.
The Verge notes that unlike other adult sites, Pornhub does not ask users to submit government-issued photo ID to verify their identity. While some may ask if this leaves the policy open to abuse, Pornhub vice president Corey Price stated to The Verge that “being a revenge porn victim is embarrassing enough as it is. We would rather not make the reporting process equally awkward.”
Pornhub features videos by both professionals and amateurs, which presumably makes it even more difficult to distinguish between non-consensual videos uploaded by vengeful parties and consensually-produced amateur porn. Pornhub’s statement that “thousands of victims [are] getting millions of hits on non-consensual pornography” paints a concerning picture of the ease with which malevolent individuals are uploading videos without the consent of the participants.
It also begs the question whether Pornhub is really doing enough to, as it claims, “end the cyber exploitation of innocent individuals across its collective of sites.” In Pornhub’s statement, Corey Price reassures the public that Pornhub already carries out its own policing of revenge porn; however, the site has 60 million daily visitors and several thousand uploads every day.
At present, 27 U.S. states have specific laws pertaining to revenge porn, with bills pending in 11 more. However, there has only been one conviction so far; that of Kevin Boellart, owner of YouGotPosted, a site dedicated solely to revenge porn.
Photo by Lies Thru a Lens/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)