How porn changed the internet - and everything else

深度调查:成人产业如何塑造了今天的互联网?

The Global Story

2026-11-11

30 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Every day, tens of thousands of hours of pornographic content are uploaded to the internet. At peak times, 10% of internet traffic is people watching porn. But who is making money from it, and how? Journalist Patricia Nilsson of the Financial Times has spent the past six years absorbed in this industry - chasing down its money men. She speaks with The Global Story’s Tristan Redman about how they’ve changed not just the porn we watch online, but the entire internet. Producer: Hannah Moore Executive producer: Martine Powers Mix: Travis Evans Technical producers: Stephen Bailey and Ben Andrews Senior news editor: China Collins Photo: Neon signs for adult video in Soho, London, United Kingdom. Credit: Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images
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单集文稿 ...

  • What really stuck with me was that the people

  • who were profiting from pornography were so far removed

  • from the porn itself, were so far removed

  • from the sex workers who actually make pornography.

  • And what I found so galling was that they wanted to remain anonymous.

  • They were basically saying, "Hey, this is our right.

  • We're just running private companies.

  • We have the right to privacy."

  • And this is while they're running a business

  • where performers literally have to, you know,

  • be naked in front of the world.

  • The porn industry is worth tens of billions of dollars.

  • Some statistics suggest that, at peak times,

  • up to 10% of online traffic is people watching porn.

  • The actors, the stars are mainly women.

  • The people making the money are mainly men.

  • There used to be porn barons, people like Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt.

  • But now, in the age of the internet,

  • the men making the money are the tech guys,

  • Wall Street guys, shadowy investors that don't want