Guarding against internet overlords

Pornhub announced that it would be removing millions of user-uploaded videos. The move came after Mastercard and Visa announced that their cards would be blocked from making purchases on the site. This was in response to a New York Times (NYT) column accusing Pornhub of hosting sexual videos of underage and nonconsenting women.

This move left cryptocurrencies as the only way for Pornhub to process payments.

The knee-jerk reaction to this, including my own, was to see it as a move in the right direction by Visa and Mastercard. After all, for years the corporation has profited from the publication and distribution of sexual abuse material, non-consensual videos, and pirated content. But of course, the satisfaction was short-lived.