If you've ever watched a porn video on the internet, it's very likely that it was on Pornhub, the quintessential porn equivalent of YouTube. And although it may seem a dark corner and away from the network, the truth is that it is one of the most viewed websites in the world, with more traffic than Netflix or Amazon, and the most profitable of the many legs of the company MindGeek. YouPorn, RedTube, Men.com, Sean Cody or MILF Hunter are part of the same business group, on which Netflix now focuses through a documentary directed by Suzanne Hillinger.

Its title, Hasta el fondo: La historia de Pornhub, suggests that we are either facing a deep and playful portrait of the porn industry and its actors and actresses or that it is going to air what happens in the offices of the millionaire company behind the famous page. And although it is a good play on words, in reality, neither of those two are the paths it follows. While in the first half hour we find a portrait to the use of MindGeek, with the classic story of how a technology company takes over an emerging market and turns a simple idea into a gold business, once the context is arranged, the documentary focuses on showing us the accusations and legal problems around it, both in the wake of a 2020 New York Times op-ed and accusations from different law firms, activists, and organizations opposed to pornography or sex trafficking, sometimes confusing terms.

The original name is perhaps more accurate: Money Shot, which in a first sense speaks of money, although in colloquial English refers to the moment when a porn actor ejaculates (since if he does not manage to do it in front of the camera, he usually does not charge). Because more than about bed scenes or what it means to be a pornstar today, the documentary is mainly about the money that moves this adult video website, the opacity of its company and the lack of ethics with which it has operated. With relevant testimonies such as that of Noelle Perdue, who worked for MindGeek for three years, we discover the lights and shadows of an industry that has mutated, like so many others, at the pace of technological evolution.

The documentary invites us to reflect on the relationship of the human being with pornography and sex

According to this former employee, Pornhub moved in the right direction when it implemented the ModelHub business, where porn creators could upload their own content to the web and monetize it, with a model halfway between YouTube and OnlyFans: not only did it open a channel of exchange between performers and viewers, but it guaranteed the veracity of the identity of those who uploaded content.

And that was, precisely, the dark side of the platform: at the same time, they left open the possibility that anyone could upload pornographic videos to the platform from anonymity, claiming that the law does not require them to be responsible for what others post. Videos of sexual revenge, rape or even minors sneaked into the Pornhub network, and were monetized, without anyone doing anything to prevent it. Looking the other way was very profitable.

And that was precisely the denunciation of the New York journalist Nicholas Kristof, who exposed cases of girls whose worst moments were posted on the web. Pornhub hosted thousands of pedophile videos uploaded by anonymous users and made money from them. They moderated them, supposedly, but they did not put enough effort.

Videos of sexual revenge, rape or even minors sneaked into the network

The scandal, along with the viral protests of anti-sex trafficking groups (which behind it hid ultra-Catholic organizations that oppose the porn industry in general), led MasterCard and Visa to withdraw from Pornhub due to pressure and shake the subscription and payment model; The most affected, paradoxically, were those who did upload legal content and who saw their source of income cut. The other blow would be dealt by Trump with the FOSTA-SESTA law, very contrary to the interests of sex workers.

In the midst of this storm, and the media focus that the documentary gives it, this March 17 MindGeek was acquired by a Canadian venture capital firm called Ethical Capital Partners, created in 2022 by lawyers and former executives of the cannabis industry, for an economic amount that has not transcended. The future of the company is now up in the air, although, according to SimilarWeb, it remains at number 12 of the most visited websites in the world, in February 2023.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about Hasta el fondo is that, putting on the table an always taboo subject, it invites us to reflect on our relationship with pornography. At a time when we are more aware than ever about the importance of consent, it helps us to look at porn from different angles: ethical (is the content we consume lawful and healthy?), legal (are the people we see on screen agree with their presence on the internet?) and even financial (are the performers of the videos we consume financially rewarded or is it stolen content?). Because, yes, there is also responsibility as consumers when it comes to porn.

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