Visa investigating Pornhub after child abuse claims made in New York Times

Visa credit and debit cards are displayed for a photographer in Baltimore in this April 25, 2013 photo . (AP / Patrick Semansky)

MONTREAL — Visa is joining MasterCard in investigating allegations against Pornhub.com after a newspaper alleged the website is hosting videos depicting child abuse.

Visa spokesperson Kari Shellhorn says in an email to The Canadian Press that the company is looking into the allegations made in a recent New York Times article that examined the adult website and its Montreal parent company MindGeek.

The article included comments from people whose lives were ruined as minors after their nude images made it onto the website without their consent.

Visa says its investigation involves engaging with relevant financial institutions and MindGeek and is aimed at eliminating illegal activity on the Visa network.

If the site is identified as not complying with applicable laws or the financial institutions' acceptable use policies and underwriting standards, Visa says Pornhub will no longer be able to accept payments through the credit card company.

MasterCard said Sunday it was investigating the website , while PayPal stopped payment services to Pornhub last year and American Express has a long-standing policy that prevents card acceptance on adult websites.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 7, 2020.