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person2020–present

Laila Mickelwait

Disciplines:
journalism
law/anti-trafficking activism
politics/advocacy

Summary

American anti-trafficking activist and founder of the Justice Defense Fund who led the Trafficking Hub campaign that resulted in Mastercard and Visa suspending payments to Pornhub and the subsequent removal of millions of videos.

Core Contribution

Conducted the most consequential anti-trafficking campaign in the internet age — identifying the specific payment infrastructure vulnerability of major pornography platforms and using it to force the removal of hundreds of millions of unverified videos, including CSAM.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Payment Processor Leverage (identified that major pornography sites were uniquely vulnerable to pressure through their payment processors — because banks could not afford the reputational risk of facilitating CSAM — making financial infrastructure the effective policy tool)

Historical Influences

Anti-trafficking movement tradition

Intellectual Lineage

Anti-Trafficking ActivismDigital AdvocacyChild Protection Movement

Contemporaries & Peers

Nicholas Kristof Exodus Cry

Minds Influenced

Internet accountability policyPayment processor CSAM policies

Intellectual Posterity

Trafficking HubPornhub CSAM removal

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Laila Mickelwait

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