Pornhub: Canada's secret retaliatory trade war weapon might be in danger

Read the first part of this news article here.

In the shadow of Canada's thriving tech sector, where consumer trust often hinges on national branding, the world's largest porn platform operates under a maple-leaf banner, yet its promises of safety now face scrutiny.

A few days ago, Philippe Dufresne filed an application with the Federal Court to seek an order from the Court to require Aylo, one of the world's largest operators of pornographic sites, to take steps to bring itself into compliance with Canadian privacy law.

Meanwhile, moving from the law courts to the comedy clubs of Toronto, where satire often sharpens its teeth in political absurdity, a joke has recently become a topic of political discussion.

Comedian Matthew Puzhitsky's Instagram sketch, posing as a faux politician in a post on Instagram while proposing Canada cut off United States access to Pornhub, struck a chord, going viral as trade tensions simmered.

The premise: leverage the Montreal-owned platform's staggering stateside traffic, over 3 billion monthly visits in the United States, as economic blackmail, a move that could disrupt the digital landscape in the United States.

Though the accompanying online petition hasn't garnered a lot of attention yet, its symbolic weight reflects a growing appetite among some Canadians for creative, if extreme, countermeasures.

But as laughter fades, reality intrudes. Pornhub's mounting legal battles and privacy failures now threaten to dismantle the very platform some Canadians jokingly dubbed as a digital trade nuke.

The proposal's viral appeal hinged on Pornhub's dominance, and its Canadian roots. Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), which acquired parent company Aylo in 2023, has touted its commitment to trust and compliance.

Yet Canada's Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne recently exposed systemic gaps in verifying consent for uploaded content, prompting a federal court push to enforce privacy laws.

Thousands of non-consensual videos have plagued the platform for years, with lawsuits alleging sluggish responses to takedown requests, clashing with ECP's polished rebranding, undermining not just its ethical claims but the feasibility of weaponizing it.

While Puzhitsky's gag resonated, the platform's fragility complicates the fantasy. Aylo's legal team spent nearly a year trying to block Dufresne's damning report, which details how lax safeguards enabled devastating consequences for victims.

Meanwhile, researchers warn that Pornhub's algorithms, which prioritise shock value over user safety, still promote misogynistic content and fictionalized assault scenarios, issues that could erode its cultural influence and user base.

If Ottawa were to seriously consider restricting United States access, it would risk amplifying scrutiny of a platform already accused of flouting Canadian law, exposing its legal vulnerabilities and complicating ongoing privacy investigations.

The irony is stark: a company mired in privacy scandals can hardly serve as a symbol of national leverage. Even the satirical petition's minimal traction hints at unease with tying Canada's trade strategy to a morally fraught industry.

And while the proposal playfully needles American dependency, ECP's ongoing legal fights, and the potential for court-ordered reforms, could neuter Pornhub's traffic long before any unlikely retaliatory ban.

For now, it remains to be seen whether Canada's privacy crackdown will force Pornhub to finally align with its touted principles, or if the platform's unravelling reputation will render it useless as a weapon, satirical or otherwise.