MindGeek — proprietor of a number of grownup leisure websites together with Pornhub, Brazzerz and Redtube — was acquired by a Canadian personal fairness agency, Ethical Capital Partners (ECP).
ECP, which was shaped final yr, didn’t disclose the phrases of the deal.
“In MindGeek, we have now recognized a dynamic tech model that’s constructed upon a basis of belief, security and compliance, and with ECP’s assets and broad experience spanning regulatory, regulation enforcement, public engagement and finance, we have now a singular alternative to strengthen what already exists,” stated ECP founding associate Fady Mansour in an announcement.
The acquisition follows a rocky few years for the porn large. MindGeek’s CEO Feras Antoon and COO David Tassillo each departed from the corporate in June 2022. MindGeek is also at the moment within the midst of multiple lawsuits that allege it has knowingly profited off of kid sexual abuse materials (CSAM). As of December 2020, the platform eliminated all non-verified content and now requires anybody who seems in a user-uploaded video to confirm their identification. Platforms like OnlyFans uphold related insurance policies as a means of cracking down nonconsensual content material.
In its announcement, ECP refers to MindGeek as “the web chief in combating unlawful on-line content material.” The personal fairness agency lists a number of insurance policies in MindGeek’s belief and security program, together with its moderation practices, which require human moderators to manually evaluate all uploads.
MindGeek, and the net porn trade at massive, faces important danger from U.S. laws like SESTA/FOSTA. The laws carves out an exception to Section 230 that holds on-line platforms accountable for facilitating prostitution and trafficking, so credit card processors have develop into skittish about operating afoul of the regulation. Now, cost and bank card corporations like PayPal, Mastercard, Visa and Uncover not course of funds on websites like Pornhub.
