KEY POINTS:
On undercover camera, Pornhub product manager Mike Farley excoriates his own product, saying, “We don’t really know the implications of this s**t [porn].”
Farley repeatedly cites psychologist Jordan Peterson’s critiques of internet porn as unprecedented for men and damaging to relationships. “There’s no way that that’s like normal. That can’t be normal. That can’t be healthy. Like that must do something. Because that’s like significant… So that has to do an effect on men for sure.”
Farley: “I don’t think anybody watches porn and then feels good about themselves after.”
After asserting his company’s product is addictive, Farley says Pornhub is “kind of the opposite of ethical.”
Speaking on international crackdowns on Pornhub, Farley laughs, “I hope they all ban us.”
[MONTREAL – December 14]
Today, Sound Investigations releases another new undercover video investigating Pornhub and its parent company, Aylo (formerly MindGeek).
Talking to an undercover Sound Investigations journalist, Pornhub technical product manager Mike Farley decries his own product as unhealthy and destructive to men and relationships. Farley tells the journalist he joined Pornhub when there were only six employees and within five years had “40 employees under me.” Farley’s archived LinkedIn page boasts over 10 years of work on Pornhub’s product.
In March 2023, a new firm calling itself Ethical Capital Partners bought Pornhub and its porn giant parent company, MindGeek (now going by Aylo). Despite the company name, Farley says Pornhub is “kind of the opposite of ethical.”
Citing “180 million unique visitors a day,” Farley sees his product as addictive, later explaining “I don’t think anybody watches porn and then feels good about themselves after… I don’t think it’s a positive thing in general.”
Further attacking his company’s product, Farley cites the Canadian psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson and admits, “We don’t really know the implications of this s**t [porn].” Farley goes on to elaborate on one of Peterson’s critiques of internet porn for allowing men to see unlimited naked women on demand in contrast to all of history when men had no such ability. “You’ve seen like thousands of the hottest girls on Earth naked. Right? Like in your brain, your brain thinks you’ve seen them in person… There’s no way that that’s like normal. That can’t be normal. That can’t be healthy. Like that must do something. Because that’s like significant… So that has to do an effect on men for sure.”
When the journalist asks Farley about Peterson’s stance that porn damages relationships, Farley says that porn is like cheating and sets “unrealistic expectations,” “like a girl only wanting to date Brad Pitts.”
Many US states and other countries are enacting ID requirements to access porn sites to ensure porn sites are not distributing porn to children. While discussing Belarus’s recent de jure ban on Pornhub and how Pornhub evades bans by changing their domain names, Farley laughingly says, “I hope they all ban us. Because I don’t give a s**t.”
This is a developing story. Sound Investigations will be releasing more undercover videos imminently.
Contact media@soundinvestigations.com or 404-955-7002.
Sound Investigations is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Mike Farley LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-farley-21b187110/
Mike Farley LinkedIn archived: https://archive.is/YUTec
