A video: “How “Free” P*rn Sites Really Work (and Who Runs Them)”

Based on the video’s transcript, here are some highlights of the insane history of Pornhub’s parent company, MindGeek:

• Mindgeek’s Monopoly: Mindgeek, a company that rebranded to “Ethical Capital Partners,” holds a monopoly on the global porn industry, owning numerous pay sites, subscription sites, and tube sites, including PornHub, RedTube, and Xtube [00:06].
• Company Ownership: The majority shareholder of Mindgeek was Bern Bergmayer, an Austrian who lived part-time in Hong Kong [01:49]. The minority shareholders were Feras Antoon and David Tassillo, who served as the CEO and COO [02:33].
• Financials: Mindgeek is a multi-billion dollar corporation that is estimated to bring in about half a billion dollars per year [03:08].
• Content Moderation: Mindgeek had only 30 moderators for millions of videos on PornHub, which led to numerous videos containing illegal content being left online [05:04]. The company later deleted 10 million videos and over 30 million images in an effort to “woo credit card companies back” [04:16].
• Whistleblower: Fabian Thylmann, a former owner of the company, revealed the identity of the majority shareholder and advised going after credit card companies to cut ties with the company to make a difference [07:33].
• Lawsuits: The former CEO and COO are being sued by nearly 300 victims in 25 lawsuits, including multiple class actions on behalf of tens of thousands of child victims [08:32].
• Company Rebrand: PornHub was sold as a “distressed asset” to a company called Ethical Capital Partners [09:10]. The person leading the rebrand is Solomon Friedman, a criminal defense attorney from Canada [09:35]. The speaker points out the irony of the new name, as the same individuals responsible for the decisions that harmed victims are still running the site today [11:36].