MindGeek, the parent company of pornography site PornHub, was acquired by Ethical Capital Partners, a Canada-based private equity firm, Reuters reported. Pornhub is one of the world's most-trafficked websites, and is based in Canada’s Montreal.
"We are engaged with the team at MindGeek and with stakeholders, including content creators, advocates, law enforcement, civil society partners and policy makers to inform our efforts and strengthen MindGeek's secure platforms, going beyond legal and regulatory obligations," said Solomon Friedman, Ethical Capital’s founding partner, said.
As soon as news reports emerged of MindGeek’s acquisition, an amused internet highlighted the irony that a company named “Ethical Capital” is buying Pornhub’s parent firm.
“I feel like I’m hallucinating,” tweeted journalist David Reevely.
"Never stop being you, private equity," Twitter user Paul Kedrosky wrote.
"You can't make this up," another user, Reuben Abraham, tweeted.
In December 2020, Pornhub had started removing all the videos which are not uploaded by its official content partners or members of its model programme. The website was caught in controversy after a New York Times report that said videos depicting child sex abuse and rape are uploaded on the site.
The paper asserted that among the 6.8 million new videos posted on the site each year, a majority "probably involve consenting adults, but many depict child abuse and nonconsensual violence".
Pornhub, the Times said, also lets users download videos directly from its site, which allows anyone to repost clips repeatedly and without limit.
The report and the investigations had led to MasterCard and Visa cutting ties with MindGeek.
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