This time last year, I delved into the dark side of Pornhub for  @thesundaytimes. I was genuinely shocked by what I found. There were real rape videos and the worst child abuse content you can imagine, as well as endless “revenge porn" and upskirting clips
1/ https://twitter.com/VICE/status/1338454442514018310

There were videos of men masturbating in front of children on buses and channels devoted to “creepshots” of girls in school uniforms.

Pornhub told me it banned underage content and removed it. But some of the clips had 1000s of views and had been live for three years plus 2/

Many clips had keywords in their titles or were tagged with terms like "jailbait" or "lolita", so were easy to find. Some showed up on the homepage.

The Internet Watch Fdn told me it had identified dozens of examples of CSAM on PH, including videos believed to depict toddlers

When I asked Pornhub why it allowed some of this stuff, it told me it was anti-child abuse and had a "robust internal policy" for removing illegal content, including "expertly-trained human reviewers" who scan material to "determine whether it is consensual".

But it also tried to suggest I was the one with the problem. I wasn't getting in touch to ask about fetishes or fantasy content. I had asked about real abuse videos, some of which clearly involved very young children

In a statement, a spokesman said it was "important to note" that often videos tagged with terms like "young teen" were legal & "produced to cater to user fantasies". "While you and others find these fantasies extreme, they do appeal to many people around the world"

The concerns about PH have been capitalised on by some groups whose argument appears to be wider: that all porn is bad. Our reporting wasn't about that. It was about consent, and sites like PH that make millions of pounds doing very little to make sure they're safe and legal

After our investigation, Unilever and Heinz cut ties with Pornhub. @YvetteCooperMP said the material was "illegal and dangerous" and called for a police investigation. She said: “There is no excuse for complacency or claiming ignorance when children are being put at risk."

It wasn't enough to encourage PH to take action. It's only now that it has decided to clean up its act - after @NickKristof wrote an article that led Mastercard and Visa to cut ties. PH has now banned unverified uploads and is removing pre-existing content pending review

This is huge. It's not about shaming people for fetishes or stopping performers making a living. It's about sites being responsible for removing illegal stuff. If done right, it'll mean users can be more sure when using PH that they're not contributing to abuse / exploitation

V well done to @NotYourPorn, who have campaigned tirelessly to raise awareness about this. Also the @RPHelpline, which has seen a surge in image-based abuse reports during lockdown. It helps people who've had content posted on sites like Pornhub and struggled to get it taken down

And if you want to read our investigation, it's here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/unilever-and-heinz-pay-for-ads-on-pornhub-the-worlds-biggest-porn-site-knjzlmwzv