Keeping Children Safe And Legal Compliance, French Minister Will Meet New Owners Of Pornhub Site

Jean-Noel Barrot, the junior minister who handles the telecommunications and digital economy sector (photo: twitter @jnbarrot)

JAKARTA - A French government minister will, Jean-Noel Barrot, meet the new owner of Pornhub's porn website to ensure the protection of minors and that the site does not violate the law, it said on its Twitter account on Friday, March 17.

Pornhub owners, MindGeek, have been in the middle of the entertainment industry for adults since video streaming emerged, but faced controversy, as Pornhub was cut off by Visa and Mastercard payment networks in 2020 following an investigation into identifying unlawful content on the platform.

MindGeek has said that Mastercard has restored access to subscription sites, but the two payment companies have suspended ties to the company's ad arm TrafficJunky following a lawsuit asking the question of whether they can facilitate child pornography.

This week, Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners said it had purchased MindGeek, who had received complaints about Pornhub content.

"I will meet with the directors of the site to ensure that they are willing to operate according to our laws and to ensure that they will protect minors," Jean-Noel Barrot, junior minister in charge of the telecommunications sector and the digital economy, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

MindGeek said he would work with Ethical Capital Partners (ECP) in terms of trust and security with regulators.

"We have spoken with partners at the ECP. They are aware of the minister's statement on social media. The ECP will work with the MindGeek team to ensure their commitment to trust and security is clearly communicated with all stakeholders, including the government, regulators, and elected officials," said MindGeek.