Mastercard Will Require Banks to Police Content on Adult Sites

Webmaster Discussion
#1

Banks that connect merchants to our network will need to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal content,” the company said in the statement. The company also put the onus on banks to guarantee that merchants selling adult material require “clear, unambiguous and documented consent” for anyone appearing in video or images, according to a report by Bloomberg News.

i wonder what impact it will have?

#2

The answer is … nothing. It doesn’t change anything. Especially for banks offering direct MIDs.

#3

Thought they already had this rule…

#4

Actually it seems it will be a big change, especially for tube and fan sites:

How Different Sectors Will Be Affected: A Breakdown

Segpay’s Cathy Beardsley broke down how the new requirements, as she understands them, will affect different sectors:

Tubesites (e.g., Pornhub, XVideos) and Fan Sites (e.g., OnlyFans, JustFor.fans, FanCentro)

  • Enter into a written agreement with any individual that is contributing content to the website. This includes the individual’s consent, their identity and age
  • All persons depicted in the content must give consent for the content to be distributed and downloaded
  • Age and identity of all persons depicted is required
  • Only verified users can be permitted to upload content
  • All content must be reviewed prior to publication, or real-time if it’s livestreamed, and no content can violate the Card Brand BRAM (Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation) policies
  • Website must have a complaint process for reporting, review and removal of violating content
  • Have policies in place to make sure that the website cannot be used for human trafficking
  • Provide monthly reports to acquirer of flagged content and what was taken down
  • No search terms or marketing partners give the illusion that the content they are marketing will contain child exploitation materials or depictions of non-consensual activity

Paysites

  • Website must have a complaint process for reporting, review and removal of such content
  • Takedown requests/flagged content will need to be reported monthly to the acquirer
  • Have policies in place to make sure that the website cannot be used for human trafficking
  • No search terms or marketing partners that give the illusion that the content they are marketing will contain child exploitation materials or depictions of non-consensual activity

Studios

  • Not a requirement, but studios should keep BRAM policies in mind when shooting content
  • Have model consent forms which verify users identity and tools in place to verify users (two forms of ID or tools), ensure model releases address the consent provisions of Mastercard’s update (consent to have the content downloaded may not be in a standard release)

Models/Content Makers

  • Be prepared to provide identity and proof of identity
#5

Mastercard has no lever on sites that don’t process any payments, and so the only ones they’re really hurting are businesses that were maintaining legitimacy anyway.

#6

All the major tube sites depend heavily on processing payments, their entire model is setup around it now. Or what about onlyfans?

#7

well, yes, but it’s the myriad of the ones that don’t actually make sales that are the bigger offenders, the tubes that have premiums already have at least some semblance of legality and fair play in place.

#8

Bjorn, your are right. I was referring to Pay Sites only. The requirements for paysites are the same as before.

But even for tubes I see a possible way of escape: Website must have a complaint process for reporting, review and removal of violating content. Basically it can amends all “bad things” again the listed rules.

#9

Well no the real issue is that uploads can only be done by verified user (with ID / age verification) and that the content is verified.

But I guess it’s way to early to know how it will effect things. I suspect other tube sites like xtube, Xhamster etc will be forced to do what pornhub did and delete all content that’s not by verified users.

#10

IMHO, this will decimate hookup sites and apps that have membership fees. There is no way they can comply with these new rules - they either have to go PG-13 (yawn), or change to free/ad supported (yuck). They were exempted previously. No more.

The other big change is that models can now request their content be taken down - so it basically invalidates any contracts they signed to the contrary. Legally the content can still be up on free sites, but not ones that take credit cards.

So this is actually a rather big shift.

#11

I didn’t even think of the hookup sites.

I did read the bit about models being able to remove their content, but it’s vague.