The pornography industry has been turned on its head in 2025, and not just because major streamers have ditched their hot tub metas and yoga pants to promote themselves fully as OnlyFans models.
A slew of major bans has seen traffic supposedly tank on some of the biggest sites around, while elsewhere, VPN spikes suggest that you're still getting your rocks off by trying to flout the new regulations.
Notably, the end of 2025 sees the adult entertainment megagiant, Pornhub is banned in 22 US states.
We also saw Pornhub briefly banned in France, the United Kingdom deciding to introduce new third-party age verification, and Italy become the latest country to slap porn sites with similar restrictions.
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Even more recently, the United Kingdom has come down hard on the category of suffocation and strangulation porn, with a report from Conservative peer Baroness Gabrielle Bertin calling for other types of sex acts to be banned.
The debate about the kind of materials we're viewing online, the potential degradation of performers, and what this could be doing to minors has become a major point of contention, with LADbible's 'For F**k's Sake' campaign highlighting the issue of how people are consuming porn in 2025. The campaign reports that some 77% of the Gen Z population watches pornography, aiming to educate, inform, and discuss the various taboos and issues surrounding porn.
Some sites themselves are attempting to move with the times, as the female-led Ersties bills itself as an 'ethical' adult entertainment company.
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As part of this, Ersties has hired a Chief Pleasure Officer to oversee quality control. They’re given support by the in-house Pleasure Test Crew (nicknamed “The W*nk Squad”).
Ersties says that instead of using algorithms, the CPO and the crew test content to see how immersive, authentic, and emotionally engaging it feels for viewers.
The company explains how the CPO looks at everything from pacing to natural chemistry, camera angles to how a scene feels.
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As for the modus operandi of the Chief Pleasure Officer, Ersties says that they focus on"how ‘w*nkable’ the videos are and how engaging and immersive each video feels from a viewer’s perspective."
This includes "checking that the shot doesn't cut and change right at the moment the user wants it to stay to evaluating camera angles, and the natural rhythm of scenes to ensure the content remains sexy, authentic, visually appealing, and emotionally resonant."
Cat, Head of Creative, Community and Education at Ersties, concludes: “The feedback helps us join our mission of making ethical, authentic, women-led adult entertainment, with a pleasure experience that’s like no other. We want our users to feel good watching our content from the moment they click on the website to the moment they ‘finish’.”
Ersties was founded with a mission of creating 'real' porn that is unscripted and made by women.
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Said to have 'reinvented' adult films through the female gaze, Ersties says it creates scenes based on what performers genuinely enjoy. By the sounds of it, the Chief Pleasure Officer and Pleasure Test Crew also get to 'enjoy' their roles more than your typical 9-to-5.