Pornhub launched in 2007 like any other tech company, with a group of bros at the helm and rows of staff hard at work in an office building. It would have been just another late aughts internet money making success story, except for one big difference between it and every other user-generated content platform trying to make it at the time: its founders aimed to disrupt the centuries-old industry of adult entertainment.
A new narrative podcast produced by the CBC and hosted by me, called The Pornhub Empire: Understood, explores the history, rise, fall, and rehabilitation of Pornhub’s reputation as the most well-known website for porn on the internet.
Today, Pornhub is at the center of an age verification battle that could shape how we all use the internet—something I’m covering as it unfolds here at 404 Media. We talk through news on this beat, and much more, on the 404 Media podcast every week.