This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von
E559 Laila Mickelwait
Feb 3, 2025
Laila Mickelwait, author of 'Takedown' and founder of the #Traffickinghub movement, discusses her mission to shut down Pornhub and tackle human trafficking. She shares harrowing victim stories and critiques the site's lack of accountability. Laila highlights the financial motivations behind adult sites and the importance of holding credit card companies accountable. Their conversation also touches upon the mental health impacts of pornography and the urgent need for regulatory reforms to protect minors and vulnerable individuals.
01:56:04
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Quick takeaways
- Laila Mickelwait emphasizes the urgent need for accountability in the porn industry due to severe human rights violations and abuse.
- The launch of the #Traffickinghub movement successfully mobilized public support, gathering over 2.3 million signatures against Pornhub's exploitative practices.
Deep dives
The Fight Against Pornhub Begins
The fight to hold Pornhub accountable for serious crimes such as sex trafficking and child abuse commenced in early 2020, driven by years of advocacy against human trafficking. A pivotal moment was the harrowing case of a 15-year-old girl found on the platform after being missing for a year, who appeared in numerous videos depicting her abuse for profit. This story, among others, highlighted the glaring lack of oversight in Pornhub's content uploading process, revealing alarming instances of illegal and unethical videos that were easily accessible. The urgency to act was compounded by investigative work by journalists that exposed the prevalence of horrific content on the site, igniting a call to action against Pornhub's practices.
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