Consider Before Consuming

Laila Mickelwait's Fight to Shut Down Pornhub, Pt. 1

Aug 14, 2024

Laila Mickelwait, an anti-trafficking activist and founder of the Justice Defense Fund, passionately discusses her fight against sex trafficking and illegal content on Pornhub. She shares alarming revelations about the exploitation facilitated by the platform and highlights grassroots efforts like the #TraffickingHub movement. Laila emphasizes the need for public support to bring systemic change, while exposing the challenges faced by advocates and the importance of holding corporations accountable for unethical practices.

59:11

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Episode guests

Laila Mickelwait

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Laila Mickelwait highlights the alarming prevalence of illegal and non-consensual content on Pornhub, revealing significant failures in content moderation.

The grassroots movement under #traffickinghub mobilizes widespread public awareness and support for holding Pornhub accountable for exploitation.

New initiatives like the Justice Defense Fund focus on aiding victims while pushing for civil litigation against corporations to foster systemic change.

Deep dives

Investigation Uncovers Disturbing Content on Pornhub

The investigation into Pornhub revealed a staggering amount of illegal content, including videos of minors and non-consensual acts. One of the triggering stories involved a 15-year-old girl who was found in 58 videos on the site, showcasing the severe issue of child exploitation. Alongside this, an inquiry by the London Sunday Times uncovered dozens of videos featuring children as young as three, raising questions about the platform's content moderation practices. The alarming findings indicate a systematic failure to protect vulnerable individuals from being abused and profited from online.

Intro

4min

Unveiling Trafficking: The Fight Against Pornhub

19min

Justice for Survivors: The Fight Against Online Exploitation

7min

Exposing the Truth Behind Pornhub

23min

The Complicity of Content Moderation Practices

2min

Insights from Former Employees of a Controversial Industry Giant

2min

A Surprising Encounter with Industry Leadership

3min

Trigger Warning

*The following episode contains descriptions of disturbing porn themes, discussions of child sexual abuse and sex trafficking. Listener discretion is advised.

Laila Mickelwait is an anti-trafficking activist, Founder and CEO of the Justice Defense Fund, Founder of the Traffickinghub movement, and author of "Take Down: Inside the Fight to Shut Down PornHub for Child Abuse, Rape, and Sex Trafficking,”

In this Consider Before Consuming podcast episode, Laila shares her journey in the anti-sex trafficking movement and her efforts to expose and combat illegal content on Pornhub.

Fight the New Drug is a non-religious and non-legislative awareness and education organization. Some of the issues discussed in this episode may be legislatively-affiliated. Though our organization is non-legislative, we fully support the fights against already illegal forms of pornography and sexual exploitation, and against sex trafficking.

Episode Resources

Laila's Book: Takedown

Traffickinghub Petition

Justice Defense Fund

Laila's Article: Time to Shut Pornhub Down

FTND Resource: Porn and Sex Trafficking

Podcast: Consider Before Consuming, Ep. 35: Nikolas Kristof

Article: What's Going on with Pornhub?