DES MOINES, IOWA (October 6, 2023) — Last week, Attorney General Brenna Bird joined 25 other states in a letter to Pornhub’s parent company expressing concerns about a loophole that allows pornographers to post content exploiting children.
As recently reported, an employee of the company was captured on video by an undercover journalist discussing a “loophole” that enables child exploitation. Users who upload content to the site are required to submit a photo ID but are not required to show their face in the uploaded material. The employee admitted there is no way to confirm whether the person uploading the photo ID is the same person in the content. When asked if rapists and human traffickers use this loophole to upload, and make money off of, photos and videos of their victims, the employee replied, “Of course.”
“As a mom and prosecutor, I will always keep our kids safe,” said AG Bird, “I’ve prosecuted sex crimes committed against children, and it is heartbreaking. I will not stop fighting to protect our kids and stop child exploitation.”
Various federal and state laws forbid the creation and distribution of child sexual-abuse material. The coalition of attorneys-general requested an explanation of the loophole. The attorneys-general demand that Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, and its subsidiaries forbid “content creators” and “performers” to obscure their faces in uploaded content to ensure that no children or other victims are being abused for profit on any of its platforms.
Iowa joined 25 other states in the South Carolina-led letter.
Read the full letter here.
