Pornhub has been accused of profiting from abuse. Why has an ‘ethical’ investment firm bought it?

Key Factors
  • An ‘moral’ non-public fairness agency has bought the world’s greatest porn web site.
  • Moral Capital Companions introduced its buy of Pornhub mum or dad firm MindGeek this week.
  • Pornhub has been the goal of a wave of lawsuits and allegations.
This text comprises references to rape and youngster sexual abuse.
Canadian non-public fairness agency Moral Capital Companions this week introduced its buy of beleaguered MindGeek which operates Pornhub, the world’s greatest pornography web site.
The phrases of the transaction weren’t disclosed following Thursday’s announcement.
MindGeek, which is headquartered in Luxembourg however has massive places of work in Montreal, has been the goal of a number of lawsuits alleging it profited from the distribution of kid pornography and non-consensual intercourse movies – which it has denied.

New proprietor Moral Capital Companions “seeks out funding alternatives in industries that require principled moral management”, the Ottawa-based agency’s chair Rocco Meliambro stated in an announcement.

“Our philosophy is rooted in figuring out properties amenable to our accountable funding strategy and which have the potential to create enticing returns over a compelling time horizon,” he stated.
“We imagine the grownup leisure business is being influenced by evolving public views and regulatory approaches, and the time is acceptable for evolving this enterprise.”
Based in 2004, MindGeek operates a big portfolio of grownup leisure websites, together with Pornhub, YouPorn, Redtube and Males.com.
The market chief in web porn, nevertheless, has confronted a rising backlash because the New York Instances in December 2020 printed an article during which Pornhub was accused of posting unlawful content material on-line, together with youngster pornography and rape movies.

That led Canadian lawmakers to grill executives about alleged abuses, whereas Mastercard and Visa suspended funds on Pornhub. Its prime executives resigned in June 2022.

Solomon Friedman, a founding accomplice of Moral Capital Companions, stated the agency was “engaged with the staff at MindGeek and with stakeholders, together with content material creators, advocates, regulation enforcement, civil society companions and coverage makers to tell our efforts and strengthen MindGeek’s safe platforms, going past authorized and regulatory obligations”.
Mr Friedman stated that “public and clear dialogue is the one path ahead to destigmatise the authorized selections of grownup performers and shoppers”.
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