XTube, an online pornographic platform, is shutting down as its parent company faces mounting accusations that it facilitated Human Sex Trafficking on its subsidiary sites.
Its parent company, Mindgeek, owns multiple porn websites, including Pornhub, which has an estimated 20 million subscribers worldwide.
XTube was founded in 2006 and was one of the first porn sites that allowed users to upload their own videos. Most of the content uploaded is deemed to be illegal. The images are uploaded and shared without the persons/victim’s consent and include images of rape, incest, sexual violence, and child exploitation. The perpetrator continues to victimize and profit from their crime without consequences.
Women and children worldwide have suffered the emotional, psychological, physical, and even financial consequences of having their images online.
The National Center for Sexual Exploitation has been actively involved in both educating the public about Sex trafficking and Sexual Violence and holding the companies that create online platforms for the business of Human Sexual Exploitation accountable. The Dirty Dozen List is published annually to highlight mainstream companies for profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation.
They recently shared with their supporters this notification.
“WASHINGTON, DC (July 6, 2021) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) says that XTube’s announcement that it is shutting down in September 2021 is evidence that the pornography industry is collapsing. In operation for 13 years, XTube is a well-known pornography website that had 10.77 million visits in May 2021 alone. XTube is owned by MindGeek, and it prominently displayed itself as part of the “Pornhub Network.”
“XTube’s announced shutdown is more evidence that MindGeek’s exploitation empire is crumbling. This is welcome news, given the mounting evidence that MindGeek has hosted and profited from child sex abuse material, rape, sex trafficking, nonconsensual material, sexual violence and other racist and misogynistic sexual content on its myriad of pornography websites,” said Dawn Hawkins, CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. “XTube’s closure is a clear victory for the movement to hold Pornhub, MindGeek, and the pornography industry accountable for their facilitation of sexual abuse and exploitation.”
XTube operates similarly to MindGeek-owned Pornhub and much of the pornography industry, allowing videos to be uploaded with no meaningful verification of age or consent.
“Numerous survivors have said that MindGeek refused to remove their sexual abuse and sexual assault material from Pornhub and its other porn websites; many have filed lawsuits against MindGeek, including NCOSE's class-action lawsuit on behalf of two survivors of childhood sex trafficking," said Hawkins.
“XTube’s decision to close was not made in a vacuum. This decision comes after mounting pressure from legislators, outrage in the media, loss of mainstream corporate support, and survivors stepping forward to demand justice through lawsuits.
“We hope that XTube’s closing is a harbinger of things to come for MindGeek. We look forward to the day we can announce that Pornhub and additional MindGeek-owned pornography sites are ending,” Hawkins added.
Six civil lawsuits have been filed against MindGeek, including two class-action lawsuits in the U.S. on behalf of minors, one of which was jointly filed by NCOSE and several other law firms on behalf of two survivors of childhood sex trafficking.”
The closing of XTube is excellent news for the fight against Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, but the war is not over. Make sure that your children know how to protect themselves online and not become victims. Never take or share a personal photo that you would not want online. The perpetrators of human sex trafficking and online pornography are tech-savvy and relentless in getting what they want.
Here at Global Hope 365, we educate city, county, and local lawmakers and the general public on human trafficking prevention and increased penalties for offenders.
Support our outreach efforts to establish a human trafficking perpetrator registry to help law enforcement efforts to prevent human trafficking victims.
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