Netflix will release an exclusive documentary on the Internet porn giant in March. Entitled Money Shot: The Pornhub Story, it will return to the history of one of the most visited sites in the world, without neglecting the dark sides and the controversies.
While the question of the accessibility of online pornographic content to minors is in the line of sight of the Government, which plans to introduce an age verification system from March, Porhub finds itself in the spotlight , and not to his advantage. The site, which welcomes more than 2 billion visitors every month, is the subject of a documentary which will be available on March 15 on Netflix. For the record, the platform had already broadcast in 2015 Hot Girl Wanteda report that denounced the recruitment of young actresses, amateur porn, working conditions and the consequences on the lives of young women, and its sequel, Turned On, in 2017. Title Money Shot: The Pornhub Storythis new 93-minute documentary directed by Suzanne Hillingerl retraces the history of the platform and looks back on its successes as well as the recent controversies against the site through the testimonies of actresses, activists and former employees.
Pornhub: from success to scandals
Pornhub has “fundamentally changed the way pornography is made and distributed” explains Netflix in a press release relayed by varietyallowing “content creators to reach a large audience” all in “winning billions of dollars”. Problem: the platform is regularly accused of hosting stolen videos, content depicting rape and/or brutal scenes without the consent of the victims, of being used for the revenge porn – videos of a sexual nature broadcast without the consent of one of the participants in revenge – of pedophilia and fueling human trafficking. Faced with these findings, Suzanne Hillinger therefore asked herself the following question: “Can the web giant protect those it profits from, or is this another wave of censorship for adult performers producing consensual porn?“
The juggernaut of pornographic distribution has experienced many setbacks in recent months. His Instagram and YouTube accounts, launched in 2007, were shut down in 2015 for violating those networks’ content policies. The advertising subsidiary of Mindgeek, the parent company of Pornhub, was banned from accessing Visa and Mastercard services in 2020, following a damning investigation by the New York Times on Pornhub. “This documentary forces us to question the meaning of sexuality and consent when multi-billion dollar internet platforms thrive on user-generated content”explains Suzanne Hillinger. “Who has, and who should have, power in these environments? Our hope is that this film will spark important conversations about sex and consent, both on the internet and around the world.”