IG Has Banned Pornhub 'Permanently' But Kim Kardashian Can Still Post 'Her Fully Exposed A**'
Pornhub is accusing Instagram of employing double standards.
The Pornhub Instagram account has been 'permanently' deleted, but the adult film company has demanded an explanation for the ban.
A spokesperson for Meta, the company that owns Instagram, told Vice's Motherboard on Tuesday that they have "permanently disabled this Instagram account for repeatedly violating our policies."
But Pornhub, one of the world's most-visited adult website, denied violating Instagram's guidelines and immediately pointed fingers in the direction of public figures like Kim Kardashian, who they accused of posting rated-R content on their Instagram accounts.
In an open letter posted on Twitter, Pornhub directly addressed Meta officials, including Mark Zuckerberg. It was endorsed by 63 people, including pornographers, models, and famous performers such as Riley Reid and Lucy Hart.
"Sex workers and performers have been unfairly targeted in the form of bans, shadow bans, suspensions, loss of Live privileges and content removal, despite taking extra care not to violate Instagram's Community Guidelines," the letter said.
Pornhub claimed that the erstwhile Instagram account was banned despite 'fully PG' content, but celebrities, who regularly post risque media on her profile, are not accorded the same treatment.
"Kim Kardashian has posted her fully exposed a** to her 330 million followers without any restrictive action from Instagram," they said.
Kardashian had recently posted an image from a magazine photoshoot, where her derriere is on display.
"We are happy to see that Kim and the artistic team behind the image are free to share their work on the platform but question why we are denied the same treatment," the letter argued.
Instagram had first removed Pornhub's account three weeks back, because "it goes against our Community Guidelines" -- anti-human trafficking activist Laila Mickelwait found out.
Although the specifics of the ban remain unclear, figures like Mickelwait celebrated Instagram's grown 'conscience.' Pornhub, which lost more than 13 million followers, has monetized sex trafficking and criminal abuse of countless victims, including children, according to her.
Mickelwait's Traffickinghub Movement has also come under fire for its ties with Exodus Cry, a Christian advocacy group with whom she was employed earlier. It seeks the abolishment of the porn industry altogether.
"Anti-porn crusaders like NCOSE (National Centre on Sexual Exploitation)... intentionally misled reporters about why Pornhub’s Instagram profile was disabled, and actively misled people into believing they were responsible," a spokesperson for Pornhub had told Mashable.
"Instagram does not take business dictation from anti-porn zealots, especially ones with noted histories of propagating false information and extremist policies against sex workers," they said.
Despite criticizing the level of censoring, the Pornhub has been, in the past, found guilty of profiting from non-consensual adult content and even pornography involving minors.
A New York Times report in 2020, investigated child pornography on the wes and even prompted payment gateways like Mastercard and Visa to announce they would stop processing payments on the site.
Pornhub had responded by suspending content from all unverified accounts on the website, but also highlighted the 84 million instances of child sexual abuse material on Facebook in the preceding three years.
The adult website, three weeks back, had believed that the ban was temporary, but the permanent nature of the decision has given the controversy a new complexion. A statement from Pornhub on this development is awaited.
