Popular free pornography site PornHub has announced in a blog post that payments giant PayPal has stopped servicing payments to over 100 000 porn performers who sell extras through the site.
According to PornHub:
“We are all devastated by PayPal’s decision to stop payouts to over a hundred thousand performers who rely on them for their livelihoods.”
PornHub does not provide details about why service was suspended, but a spokesperson for PayPal told Motherboard that PornHub had made “certain business payments” without PayPal’s permission:
“Following a review, we have discovered that Pornhub has made certain business payments through PayPal without seeking our permission. We have taken action to stop these transactions from occurring.”
The bulk of PornHub’s blog post dealing with the suspension advises “models” on how to set up new ways to take payments from PornHub. Most involve direct debit, including the use of SWIFT’s new SEPA system in Europe.
Pornhub apologizes for any payments that are late due to the suspension and says it will, “have staff working around the clock to make sure all payouts are processed as fast as possible on the new payment methods.”
Motherboard contends that PayPal’s “Acceptable Use Policy,” which prohibits, “certain sexually oriented materials or services,” uses, “phrasing that’s intentionally vague enough to allow circumstances like this to happen whenever the company wants.”
Paypal also prohibits payments involving narcotics; steroids; cigarettes; “certain controlled substances or other products that present a risk to consumer safety”; stolen goods (including virtual); promotion of hate and violence; weapons; “items that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity”; pyramids, ponzis and ‘get rich quick’ schemes; bribery and corruption.
A website called “GetHuman,” which claims to help individuals “call companies and fix customer service issues faster, includes a list of “recent reasons customers contacted Pornhub.”
Several of the most recent queries involve complaints regarding unauthorized material posted to PornHub, including, “A video of me was put up without my knowledge”; “notified of video being viewed on pornhub, has been viewed over ** times. did not give…”; and, “A hater posted this video I want to sue the person for defamation (sic) of character.”
Crypto Twitter is hailing suspension of PayPal at PornHub as yet another “good for Bitcoin moment,” one that may further incentivize use of the system.
Angus Champion de Crespigney, a blockchain skeptic and fan of certain cryptos who is also a former blockchain and crypto asset lead at EY, tweeted about the suspension:
“This is a real problem though, and one to which Bitcoin does provide a solution, albeit clunky for now.”
Twitter user, “Satoshi Nakameowdough” responded:
“It’s very much in the interest of Maxis (Bitcoin maximalists) to solve this problem, because let’s face it, a lot of them aren’t getting laid.”