MindGeek’s Risky ESG Makeover

A major reason for the purchase of Pornhub owner MindGeek by Ethical Capital Partners (ECP) is the chance to profit by winning back the support of Visa and Mastercard, who previously cut off Pornhub from payment services. ECP’s partners appear to be trying to put an ethical spin on MindGeek’s operations, aiming to drive growth by promoting a commitment to ethical leadership along with the adoption of tools for detecting and deterring illegal online activity. But branding MindGeek’s operations as ethical will take more than respecting industry workers and getting rid of illegal content. MindGeek’s content moderation practices still enable adult consumers to live out morally questionable fantasies. ECP freely admits it plans to unlock shareholder value in MindGeek through state-of-the-art tech and intellectual property investments. This has some observers speculating that the Pornhub acquisition is all about cashing in on the savings that can be achieved by investing in technology-generated porn, which could eliminate any reputational risk of being associated with child pornography. Nonetheless, Pornhub still allows viewers to engage in fantasies that are taboo, unethical, or illegal. And while anyone can try raising money for a company that does this by talking about free markets and freedom of expression, the investment banking community probably won’t bite.