Pornhub Instagram account banned, millions of followers lose access

Before PornHub’s Instagram account was removed, the account reportedly had 13.1 million followers and more than 6,200 posts.

The popular photo-sharing platform Instagram has taken down the official account of PornHub, an adult entertainment website. This was first reported by Variety. The report suggested that the PornHub account has possibly been pulled down amid pressure from civil rights groups. Notably, Instagram hasn’t revealed official details about why the account has been removed.

Before PornHub’s Instagram account was removed, the account reportedly had 13.1 million followers and more than 6,200 posts. It is said that following Instagram’s guidelines, PornHub didn’t share non-pornographic videos and images, but the posts did directly promote pornography. The account also featured videos and media content that encouraged people to become pornography performers.

After the PornHub account was taken down, anti-PornHub campaigner Laila Mickelwait shared screenshots that suggested that the account was banned for violating Instagram's community guidelines.

While Instagram hasn’t revealed the reason behind pulling down PornHub account, it is assumed to be due to pressure from civil rights groups. The move comes after Visa and Mastercard cut off payment privileges of TrafficJunky, which is the advertising arm of Pornhub parent company MindGeek. To recall, in 2020, Visa and Mastercard stopped processing payments on PornHub due to the presence of "unlawful content" on the platform.

Meanwhile, Pornhub's Twitter account, with 3.4 million followers, remains active. PornHub’s official YouTube channel, where it shares "safe-for-work" video content, is also active and has 882,000 subscribers.