Last Friday, a California judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit by a woman who accused Visa of knowingly facilitating the distribution of child pornography on Pornhub.

The decision was made in connection with a suit filed by a woman who claims Pornhub dragged its heels after she warned it was hosting an explicit video taken of her when she was 13 — at one point requiring photographic evidence that she was the same child in the video.

After several weeks, the clip, entitled “13-Year Old Brunette Shows Off For the Camera,” was taken down but re-uploaded on other MindGeek sites in 2014, garnering millions of views and earning the company advertising money facilitated by Visa, the victim alleged. The illicit clip was still on the company’s sites as recently as 2020, according to the suit.

The plaintiff fell into a deep depression, tried to kill herself, and became a heroin user after her unwanted infamy, she claimed. Still underage, she began acting in other porn videos produced by an older man to support her habit, the lawsuit said.

A rep from Visa has said that the court decision created uncertainty about the role of TrafficJunky, MindGeek’s advertising arm, and accordingly, the company will suspend its Visa acceptance privileges until further notice. During this suspension, Visa cards will not be able to be used to purchase advertising on any sites, including Pornhub or other MindGeek-affiliated sites, the rep from Visa has said.

“It is Visa’s policy to follow the law of every country in which we do business. We do not make moral judgments on legal purchases made by consumers, and we respect the rightful role of lawmakers to make decisions about what is legal and what is not,” Kelly (a rep from Visa) gas said. “Visa can be used only at MindGeek studio sites that feature adult professional actors in legal adult entertainment.”

Separately, Mastercard said it’s directing financial institutions to suspend acceptance of its products at TrafficJunky following the court ruling.

“New facts from last week’s court ruling made us aware of advertising revenue outside of our view that appears to provide Pornhub with indirect funding,” a statement from Mastercard said. “This step will further enforce our December 2020 decision to terminate the use of our products on that site.”

MindGeek has gone on record to say they have never tolerated any sort of illegal material, including child sexual abuse. In 2020 the company changed its policy to no longer allow random users to upload content on their website without first verifying their identity and age.

User-generated content (UGC) is the backbone of popular websites like Instagram and TikTok, and rulings like this have long-reaching effects for all sorts of industries.

Be sure and follow us on Twitter @Fleshbot to keep up with any updates this case may have.