Fr. Shenan J. Boquet: Lawsuit Sheds Light on Dehumanizing Porn Industry

Pornography presents and promotes a distorted view of human sexuality, in which the person portrayed, man or woman, is treated as merely a means of pleasure.… Their dignity is abused as they are used for others’ pleasure and profit.… It rejects the equal dignity and complementarity between man and woman and strikes at the heart of God’s plan for communion between persons by substituting an image of the viewer’s own lustful desires – which is ultimately illusory – for the reality of a true relationship with another human being. ― Create in Me a Clean Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography (USCCB)

A small, but potentially important, victory in a court case is drawing attention to the dark and violent side of the porn industry, and potentially preparing the legal framework to protect countless victims from being exploited.

A few days ago, a judge in California allowed a lawsuit to proceed against MindGeek (the owner of Pornhub, and numerous other popular porn websites) as well as Visa. The lawsuit accuses MindGeek and Visa of profiting off child pornography.

In response to the judge’s decision, Visa and Mastercard promptly announced that they would temporarily suspend processing payments for advertising purchases on Pornhub, the world’s largest pornography website, thus removing one of MindGeek’s most-significant sources of income.

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