Delete history: Pornhub changed the world, but its empire faces a reckoning
Pornhub completely disrupted the adult entertainment industry, and its influence on culture and our collective experiences of sexual expression online is undeniable.
But Pornhub, which bills itself as the world's leading free porn site, is now attempting to adapt to the times itself. It's facing a changing landscape of how people make and consume adult content, a reputation marred by accusations of child sexual abuse and pressure to abide by potentially invasive age verification laws.
Like many other tech companies, Pornhub was started by a handful of dudes with a dream of making tons of money — and they would do it by offering people what they wanted: free pornography.
The site was founded in 2007 by Concordia students Ouissam Youssef and Stephane Manos, and their competitive foosball buddy Matt Keezer. They spent the next several years treating it like the tech startup it was.
In an era of free everything online, Pornhub flourished by allowing anyone with an internet connection to upload pornographic videos to the site, regardless of whether they owned or appeared in them. In 2010, the site was purchased by a larger company that owned several other porn sites. It would eventually become known as MindGeek, based in Montreal.
