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Well, that's tricky because then you have any number of corporations that could sell illegal content, and Visa would simply wait for a conviction which can take

Well, that's tricky because then you have any number of corporations that could sell illegal content, and Visa would simply wait for a conviction which can take quite some time given how slow the legal system is. Making it Visa's responsibility forces them to be proactive. We're dealing with a case of illegal porn involving underage victims so I think that makes sense. Mindgeek has taken steps to fix the problem but maybe Visa isn't convinced that they've done enough.

0xbadcafebee 4y ago
But that's the whole problem! We go "underage victims!" and then stop thinking. We are focusing on the potential harm, without considering the actual harm. Our irrational fear of abuse is causing us to create abuse. By allowing policies that crack down on the entire sexwork industry, more women, children, trans people, etc are hurt, than are hurt by the actual criminals making child porn or sex trafficking. When everything goes underground and there is no well-regulated marketplace, people get exploited and abused. There's hundreds of interviews with sexworkers who all talk about how their work is more dangerous now. Pressuring Visa makes all porn go underground, which includes child porn and trafficking. That leads to more harm, because there's no visibility and no protection. If we didn't pressure Visa, and instead had a flourishing open market that was monitored, regulated and policed, it would be easier to notice the illegal activity and move to stop it. A Department of Sexwork could work directly with Visa and content creators to develop sophisticated methods to identify and stop illegal activity. But since it's harder to see abuse when everything is underground, politicians prefer it that way. If you don't notice the abuse happening, must not be happening; problem solved. No US politician will get voted out of office for banning sexwork, and Visa's bottom line won't get hurt either, even if it does result in more actual harm to people.
- wollsmoth 4y ago
  I don't think that's what's happening. Visa is still usable on many other porn sites. The difference is a lot of the content on Pornhub is/was user uploaded and the process for documenting the legality of the content was a lot more loose. Commercial sites have everything very well documented and they know exactly who is in their content. If anything, Visa is pushing out user generated content in favor of more organized, glossy operations.

0xbadcafebee 4y ago

But that's the whole problem! We go "underage victims!" and then stop thinking. We are focusing on the potential harm, without considering the actual harm. Our irrational fear of abuse is causing us to create abuse. By allowing policies that crack down on the entire sexwork industry, more women, children, trans people, etc are hurt, than are hurt by the actual criminals making child porn or sex trafficking. When everything goes underground and there is no well-regulated marketplace, people get exploited and abused. There's hundreds of interviews with sexworkers who all talk about how their work is more dangerous now. Pressuring Visa makes all porn go underground, which includes child porn and trafficking. That leads to more harm, because there's no visibility and no protection. If we didn't pressure Visa, and instead had a flourishing open market that was monitored, regulated and policed, it would be easier to notice the illegal activity and move to stop it. A Department of Sexwork could work directly with Visa and content creators to develop sophisticated methods to identify and stop illegal activity. But since it's harder to see abuse when everything is underground, politicians prefer it that way. If you don't notice the abuse happening, must not be happening; problem solved. No US politician will get voted out of office for banning sexwork, and Visa's bottom line won't get hurt either, even if it does result in more actual harm to people.

wollsmoth 4y ago
I don't think that's what's happening. Visa is still usable on many other porn sites. The difference is a lot of the content on Pornhub is/was user uploaded and the process for documenting the legality of the content was a lot more loose. Commercial sites have everything very well documented and they know exactly who is in their content. If anything, Visa is pushing out user generated content in favor of more organized, glossy operations.