EXCLUSIVE — A producer at Pornhub said the adult entertainment industry and the product it sells is unhealthy, addictive, and unethical in undercover videos.
The Washington Examiner reviewed videos of a senior product manager at Pornhub's parent company MindGeek, now called Aylo, saying he knew pornography was addictive and destructive to society. The videos were recorded by undercover journalism outlet Sound Investigations, which has released a series of tapes in recent weeks showing unflattering revelations by Aylo employees.
BOB GOOD OUTLINES VISION TO PROMOTE 'CONSERVATIVE CONSCIENCE' AS NEW FREEDOM CAUCUS LEADER
"Liberating?" senior product manager Mike Farley said in the secretly recorded video. "I don't know, I think it's just the easy way out. To me it doesn't seem like something that would be good. ... I don't think anybody watches porn and then feels good about themselves after. ... It's like ecstasy to, like, 'What the f*** am I doing?'
"I definitely think porn addiction is definitely a thing, that's for sure. ... I don't think it's a positive thing in general," Farley added, saying that the Pornhub website gets 180 unique visitors per day.
Pornhub has come under scrutiny amid allegations that it enabled sex trafficking and published content featuring underage girls. Aylo has also weathered controversy over pornography websites that allegedly refused to take down videos that women say were recorded and posted without their consent.
In the secretly recorded video, Farley went on to claim that Ethican Capital Partners, the company that bought Aylo, is not concerned with ethics despite its statement that "trust and safety" and "moderation, financial security, and data privacy," are important principles.
Farley said that the pornography company's compliance with the law is not about ethics.
"The government makes it about ethics," he said. "I don't think [Pornhub]'s worried about ethics, it's a f***ing adult website. It's kind of the opposite of ethical.
"I'm just doing my job," he continued. "Look, I'm not the ambassador of this industry."
Farley went on to talk about the scope and scale of pornography and how it can affect the human mind, especially in men.
"If you think of, like, the average guy is able to see, at any time that he wants, thousands of the hottest women on Earth naked, at any point that they want," he said. "... Every time they [watch pornography], you're going through like, whatever, 10 videos, right? That's like 10 girls per day at whatever time you're doing it a week, over years? In your brain, your brain thinks you've seen them in person, like, there's no difference. ... There's no way that's normal. That can't be normal. That can't be healthy. That must do something because that's significant. Like, if you think of the human species, like, if you think of the thousands of years we've existed before, the average guy would have seen like how many girls naked?
"It wouldn't be, like, 'Oh, here's the top 10,000 hottest girls in the world that you get to see from your phone whenever you want,'" Farley added. "That has to do an effect on men for sure."
Farley also said that viewing pornography can damage relationships in multiple ways.
"I think there's, like, the cheating aspect of it, but I also think it's like you set standards that are unachievable, so you end up having unrealistic expectations," he said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
As the Washington Examiner previously reported, Aylo set up roadblocks for reviewing and removing child pornography, admitted to hosting underage content existing on its websites, and allowed advertisements without requiring verification or consent of the people pictured. Aylo is also battling 10 human trafficking class action lawsuits, with 257 alleged victims suing the company.
Aylo declined to comment.