The Plans of Pornhub's New Owner for the Site

Private Equity Fund Ethical Capital Partners Acquires Parent Company of World's Largest Porn Site, Pledges to Remove Sexually Exploitative Content.

Crafting Explicit Content: The organization that owns Pornhub, MindGeek, was acquired by a private equity company that upholds "values-based ethical leadership" earlier this week.

The recent acquirers of Pornhub, the most frequented destination for adult content globally, have expressed an interest in being transparent and revealing insights about the company's mysterious past.

Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), a Canadian private equity firm, declared on Thursday that it had purchased the parent organization of Pornhub, MindGeek. Solomon Friedman, who is a legal professional focusing on criminal defense and is also a founder of the Ottawa-based ECP, believes that MindGeek, which is based in Luxembourg and carries out its business in Montreal, will bring about a fresh age of openness.

Friedman states that their squad is openly accessible, obvious, effortless to locate, and effortless to communicate with. He believes it is time for a fresh approach, not only at MindGeek but also in the whole sector. They need to create an atmosphere where the negative connotation and embarrassment surrounding this industry should disappear.

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MindGeek, the company that owns several popular pornographic websites like PornHub, has faced numerous accusations in recent years regarding the posting of explicit videos depicting rape and child abuse. The company is currently involved in various legal battles, one of which is a lawsuit in the United States regarding sexually explicit videos of minors that were uploaded to some of its websites. Along with PornHub, YouPorn and RedTube are also owned by MindGeek, with PornHub boasting over 130 million daily visitors. Despite the allegations, MindGeek has denied any wrongdoing. However, Visa and Mastercard have suspended payments to Pornhub and MindGeek's ad platform, TrafficJunky. While some subscription websites have once again been allowed to access Mastercard's payment portal, the ad platform remains blocked.

Friedman acknowledges that MindGeek faces difficulties in the future, but they will involve the community, stakeholders, and different groups to enhance the company's technology. The new technology will aim to confirm the age, identity, and approval of individuals starring in uploaded videos on the website.

Friedman expressed that their objective is to establish a website that is not only secure and adheres to the law on the adult side but also sets an example for the entire internet. He stated that no other adult website can offer a better experience in which users feel at ease knowing that the content they are viewing is legal, consensual, and responsibly created by protected content creators with access to a range of tools both online and offline.

Friedman stated that MindGeek is eager to team up and work together to tackle issues that affect "not only the adult entertainment industry, but the entirety of the internet."

Friedman and a group of associates established ECP, which included Fady Mansour, an attorney with experience in defending criminals, Derek Ogden, a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who also had experience in the cannabis trade, and Sarah Bain, who specializes in public relations and communications.

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The Financial Times conducted an investigation in 2022 on MindGeek, a company owned privately and supported by the previous majority owner, Bernd Bergmair, who is known for being elusive and private. The report shows that the company made a total of $460 million in revenue in 2018. Furthermore, The Globe and Mail obtained documents indicating that the company steadily increased revenue to $482 million by 2020.

Despite the controversies, Friedman is optimistic about the future of MindGeek. ECP argues that the company can make profits by expanding their services beyond the porn industry, in order to combat the issues afflicting the internet as a whole, not just on adult sites.

Friedman remarks that there is a lot of value that is yet to be utilized in the technology created by MindGeek. This is particularly true when it comes to maintaining trust and safety, moderation, financial security, and data privacy. Upon closer inspection, we have seen that MindGeek has a collection of top-notch tools that are hard to find in the industry. The potential for further development is high. We believe that there is still untapped potential for open dialogue, collaboration across industries, and being part of a discussion with the key players in the internet sector. We can together have a public conversation regarding positive sex expression online that is responsible and legal. Although this is a challenging feat to attain, we recognize that these challenges present opportunities we can make use of.

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The former owners aimed to stay unnoticed, but ECP has a different approach. Despite having a negative reputation due to Nicholas Kristof's 2020 New York Times Op-Ed detailing stories of minors being exploited on the site, CEO Friedman believes they can improve their image through communication. Recently, a new Netflix documentary called Money Shot: The Pornhub Story sheds more light on the controversies surrounding the platform.

Friedman believes that we need to have significant conversations about the place of sexual expression in our society, including sexual health and well-being. These discussions must be open and inclusive, without shutting out different perspectives. Our team at the company has a unique view on these topics. We take pride in the work we do, providing a platform for adults to express themselves freely and share their personal content while benefiting from it.

Despite ECP's assurance of unveiling the porn industry, most people are skeptical. Laila Mickelwait, who established an organization named Traffickinghub that aimed to close down Pornhub and bring its leaders to justice, is not convinced that the situation would improve with the new ownership. In response to the sale's announcement, Mickelwait tweeted today, claiming that "Ethical Capital Partners, the group set up to acquire Pornhub, is merely an attempt to cover up the truth."