Why we need to scrutinise Pornhub and other porn platforms

Anyone who celebrates the people behind major porn platforms for their reach must also discuss how those companies handle consent and the rights of the people affected. Entrepreneurial success deserves an assessment that goes beyond visitor numbers and sale proceeds.

A LinkedIn post about an evening in Montreal prompted me to write this article. Pizza and wine, a conversation about artificial intelligence and fatherhood, and a former senior MindGeek executive: David Tassillo. The post praises his understanding of digital user behaviour and asks whose voices we overlook because of the industry they work in. Missing from that account are the women whose experiences are also part of the company’s history.

In December 2023, Pornhub’s parent company Aylo, formerly MindGeek, acknowledged receiving proceeds from GirlsDoPorn’s sex trafficking operations as part of an agreement with US prosecutors. According to the US Department of Justice, the company knew or should have known where the money came from. Women had told the company that they had been deceived and coerced into participating, and that their videos had appeared online without their consent. Nevertheless, not all the reported videos were removed, and the business relationship initially continued. [1]

For its part, Aylo said the consent documents had been obtained through fraud and coercion and expressed regret that it had hosted GirlsDoPorn content. The company stressed that it had not pleaded guilty under the agreement and pointed to improved safeguards. That response belongs in the account. So does a clear description of the documented failures. [2]

Canada’s privacy regulator also identified significant failings in its February 2024 investigation report. It found that the company had not ensured valid consent from everyone depicted and had not provided affected individuals with a sufficiently accessible and effective process for removing their content. MindGeek disputed the findings. The regulator classified the complaint it investigated as well-founded and unresolved. [3]

This exposes a fundamental problem: a company distributing intimate recordings should not rely on the assurances of the person uploading them to protect everyone depicted. Consent to a sexual act, to being recorded and to publication must each be established. Publishing a recording against someone’s wishes violates their autonomy. A large number of clicks does nothing to change that.

The criticism extends to other major platforms. On 26 March 2026, the European Commission published preliminary findings against Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX and XVideos. It found apparent breaches of the Digital Services Act concerning the protection of minors from pornographic content. In its preliminary assessment, effective safeguards were missing; simply confirming that one was over 18 was insufficient. These findings are not a final decision. They show which fundamental protection issues regulators are examining at these platforms. [4]

For me, this leads to a clear demand: companies that make money from sexual content must make protecting the people involved a prerequisite for doing business. Affected individuals should not have to fight to have their recordings removed after publication. Nor should the protection of minors be overlooked as platforms grow.

David Tassillo stepped down as COO in June 2022 after more than a decade in leadership positions. According to the company’s account at the time, the move had been planned since early 2022. In February 2021, he had already appeared as COO before a Canadian parliamentary committee examining the protection of privacy and reputation on platforms such as Pornhub. [5, 6]

The low public profile highlighted in the LinkedIn post is therefore no reason to avoid critical questions. Equally, it does not establish a motive for going into hiding. The relevant questions concern the responsibility he bore as a senior executive and how he accounts for events during his tenure. Findings about the company do not, by themselves, establish Tassillo’s personal criminal guilt.

Anyone who publicly praises his knowledge of traffic and technology should ask those questions too. A pleasant conversation about children and the future does not remove responsibility for past leadership decisions. In such an account, the experiences of those affected deserve at least as much attention as the company’s technical achievements.

That conviction is why I founded PornoPause, whose English-language offering is PornLess.app. I want to help people reflect on their pornography use and make more deliberate decisions. For me, this also means examining the platforms whose services we use. Reducing consumption or taking a break can also express a choice about which business models we want to reward with our attention.

I want a public conversation that assesses entrepreneurial skill alongside responsibility. Before we turn the next porn-platform executive into an overlooked visionary, we should listen to the people who have had to fight for their rights because of such platforms.

Learn more at https://pornless.app