Thailand’s government has officially banned porn sharing site Pornhub after they said that the website violates the country’s Computer Crimes Act.
Dubbed the Youtube of pornography, where users can upload their own content, Thailand’s digital minister, Puttipong Punnakanta, made the announcement that Pornhub had been blocked for violating the country’s Computer Crimes Act of 2007.
Related: It’s a sick world: Pornhub offers free premium subscription in Europe
Across the country, site visitors were greeted with a notice of suspension noting the violation from Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
Puttipong Punnakanta referenced other countries that have banned the website and to organized groups asking for it to be shut down because the site supports human trafficking and demeans women.
Users of the website were not impressed, leading to a massive social media protest that even included its own “Save Pornhub” hashtag.
This move Thailand’s government carries great significance, given that it is reported that Bangkok is Pornhub’s 10th largest customer base, topping the list alongside cities like New York, Paris, London and Los Angeles. According to Pornhub, Thai users spend more time at the site than any other place in the world. In addition, Thailand is a major income stream for Pornhub.
In America, anti-trafficking group Traffickinghub has been running an online petition to shut the website down that has more than 2 million signatures, but there are no signs of the U.S. government following Thailand’s moves.
In March this year, U.S. Senator Ben Sasse, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, wrote to U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, calling for a federal investigation into Pornhub and its owner MindGeek for their involvement in streaming videos of raped and exploited women and children.
According to anti-trafficking group Exodus Cry, “Thailand’s strong and decisive action against Pornhub is the right one,” they stated. “Any website that hosts and profits from sex crimes should not be allowed to continue its operations. Countries have a crucial responsibility to protect the rights of those being victimized by Pornhub and by all other sites engaged in the same criminal behavior.
“This ban is a big win for the Traffickinghub movement and we expect many more countries to follow suit as they are confronted with the horrific crimes that Pornhub consistently propagates and profits from.”
Thailand is one of the largest exporters of pornographic content in the world and is well known as an global epicenter of sex trafficking and child sex abuse.
»
