Follow the money.
It’s been a bad week for Pornhub, an online website that reportedly records 3.5 billion visits per month – and those of us who have been fighting pornography’s scourge are relieved to finally see some progress in the battle to expose the industry’s wickedness.
First, The New York Times released a rightfully scathing rebuke of the horrific site, highlighting its pervasive distribution of pure evil ranging from “rape videos” to underage exhibitionists.
Columnist Nicholas Kristoff’s graphic expose has reverberated in social media since its publication last Friday.
“The world has often been oblivious to child sexual abuse,” he wrote. “We should also stand up to corporations that systematically exploit children. With Pornhub, we have Jeffrey Epstein times 1,000.”
Bowing to escalating public pressure, major credit card companies also announced this week they’ll no longer allow their cards to be used on the site.
In a galling response, representatives from the pornographic peddler suggested the move is “crushing for the hundreds of thousands of models who rely” on the website for income.
It’s all about the money to them.
Pornhub’s purveyors of filth seem indifferent to the women and children exploited and the hundreds of millions of people whose perspective of human sexuality has been perverted by its trading of trash.
But the blame doesn’t just lie with Pornhub.
The industry wouldn’t exist without a vast consumer market, including millions who profess Christ. According to 2016 research by Barna, 13% of practicing Christians seek porn at least once per month.”
Pornography is a deadly trap that will undermine your marriage, threaten your family, and destroy your faith.
I applaud Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) for introducing the Survivors of Human Trafficking Fight Back Act, legislation allowing the victims of the porn industry to sue host sites that profit from abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.
Along with Senator Hawley, Senators Maggie Hassan, Joni Ernst, and Tom Tillis have joined as co-sponsors.
According to Mr. Hawley, “Sites like Pornhub routinely escape responsibility for facilitating abuse, trafficking, and exploitation, making millions for themselves in the process. Meanwhile, the victims of this abuse have little recourse against these powerful companies, who thrive on spreading depraved content. Serious criminal penalties are needed to crack down on these tech executives who think they are above the law.”
If passed and signed into law, what will this legislation accomplish?
- Criminalize the knowing distribution of visual depictions of forced or coerced sex acts.
- Criminalize the knowing, nonconsensual distribution of depictions of sex acts (“revenge porn”), as well as privacy-invading “locker-room” images.
- Require all websites hosting pornography to create notice and takedown procedures ensuring that victims of coerced or privacy-invading videos can promptly have their images removed from the internet.
- Allow victims to sue websites that knowingly host depictions of forced sex acts or that distribute privacy-invading images and videos.
If you’re someone ensnared by pornography, you can find freedom.
Professional counseling is a good place to start. If you’re married, we highly recommend that you do this with your spouse. The most successful course of treatment takes a family systems approach that involves an initial program of intensive therapy, followed by regular and ongoing counseling sessions.
If you’re not sure where to begin, please call us. Our staff is equipped to provide you with referrals to helpful programs of this kind or a list of qualified therapists in your area who specialize in treating sexual addictions.
Perhaps you’re concerned about your kids getting caught up in it. I strongly recommend that you install some accountability software on your computer. It might not be the final solution – but it’s one helpful line of defense.
For additional resources to help combat pornography addiction, click here.
Please join me in praying for all those ensnared in this wickedness. It’s a major crisis all over the world and one that’s impacting people you know.
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Bill says
-“underage exhibitionists”
What is that? These are children that are victims of the worst crimes against humanity. Please consider your language when writing about sensitive topics.