Did India’s porn ban reduce traffic to popular adult sites like Pornhub?

September 03, 2023 08:33 am | Updated 08:42 am IST The regulation of pornography in India confuses not just its viewers but also researchers, digital rights advocates, policymakers, campaigners, and the Indian internet service providers responsible for controlling access to such platforms with explicit content. Pornhub vs India’s porn bans Recording more than 36 billion visits every year, the adult content site Pornhub is a gold mine of data for those trying to understand the habits of pornography viewers. In a statement in October 2018, Corey Price, Pornhub’s Vice President, criticised India’s ban of 827 websites, saying a Pornhub mirror site with a slightly different URL would be made available for Indian viewers to watch adult content without being censored. “It’s evident that the Indian government does not have a solution to a very serious and systemic problem in the country, and is using adult sites like ours as a scapegoat,” said Price, adding that Pornhub had been blocked but not “thousands of risky porn sites that may contain illegal content.” Price also noted that India’s people were “one of the largest connoisseurs of adult content.” But revenge porn, as well as videos of rape and child sexual abuse have been uploaded to Pornhub over the years and taken down after delays. Pornhub’s holding company MindGeek in late August changed its name to Aylo, highlighting “the need for a fresh start and a renewed commitment to innovation, diverse and inclusive adult content, and trust and safety.” Pornhub’s India connection Internet traffic to Pornhub from India was consistently high and has put the country among the top 20 for the past several years.