Lawmakers are turning up the heat on PornHub by introducing a bill that allows victims of sex trafficking and revenge porn to sue sites hosting videos of them

• Bipartisan lawmakers introduced a bill on Wednesday that, if passed, would allow victims of sexual assault, trafficking, and revenge porn to sue porn websites that host videos of them.
• The bill follows an explosive New York Times column, which accused PornHub of hosting various kinds of illegal videos containing underage girls, rape, and women who were secretly filmed.
• PornHub asserts it does not allow child sexual abuse on its platform, and this week introduced major changes to who can upload videos.

PornHub's PR nightmare shows no signs of ending any time soon.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Republican Senator Josh Hawley on Wednesday introduced a bill aimed at allowing people who unwillingly have videos of themselves shared on pornography websites to sue the sites.

If passed, the law would make it illegal for websites to "knowingly" distribute videos of sex acts in which either the subjects are coerced or tricked into performing a sex act. It will also apply to videos where the subjects didn't consent for footage to be shared.

The bill would also require websites to have a clear and easy process for people to flag illegal material to them.

This follows an explosive New York Times column which accused PornHub of hosting illegal videos of sexual assault, underage girls, and footage taken using spycams.

"Pornhub became my trafficker," one woman who was trafficked and sexually abused from age nine told the New York Times. Even after she escaped her abusers, she said videos of the abuse still reappear on PornHub. "I'm still getting sold, even though I'm five years out of that life," she said.

The column has already had a significant knock-on effect. Mastercard and Visa both said they are examining their ties with PornHub, following the column. A representative for Mastercard told Business Insider the company will take "immediate action" if it finds the Times' claims are substantiated.

PornHub denied it allowed illegal content to flourish on its platform. "Any assertion that we allow CSAM (child sexual abuse material) is irresponsible and flagrantly untrue," the company said in a statement to Business Insider.

It also made major changes to its site rules on Tuesday. From now on only verified users will be able to upload content to the website, users will not be able to download videos, and the company promised to bolster its moderation team.

"If true, then Pornhub has nothing to fear from my legislation allowing victims of fraud, coercion, and sex abuse to sue them," Sen. Hawley tweeted in response to the news of PornHub's rule changes.

"No person's intimate images should be shared without their consent. But when this deep violation of privacy occurs, we must have legal avenues in place to empower the individual who has been violated to seek justice," Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan said in a statement.

"Currently, it is extremely difficult for survivors to remove the harmful imagery from the public sphere permanently. Our bipartisan bill would create a legal pathway in federal court for victims to obtain just compensation from the person who shared their images without their consent, and to compel the removal of those images," said Hassan.

Business Insider contacted PornHub for comment on the bill.