Video: Opinion | A Letter to XVideos

I’m not going to tell you my name or show you my face. But because of you, hundreds of thousands of men have seen it and my naked body. I had just turned 14. An older man groomed me to have sex with him on a video chat. I didn’t know he was recording me. He shared it with friends. Someone uploaded the video onto your site, along with my full legal name, for people to get off to. Your users left comments that I still remember to this day. The shame I felt was overwhelming. If you Googled me, the video would show up. And that’s how my family found it. Someone emailed me a picture of my house and threatened to kidnap me. Someone else posted the name of my school. My nerves were shot for years. I couldn’t find joy in any part of my life. XVideos, you say that you take down videos that violate your terms, but that’s a lie. I reported the video to you. And for years, you ignored me. I even pretended to be a lawyer. I spent my days searching for legal templates to scare you with a real lawsuit. No 14-year-old should be doing that. You allowed the video to be uploaded on the site three times before you took it down. And your users just re-uploaded copies. It made me wish that I didn’t exist. You’ve come up with so many different ways to say it, but let’s just call it what it is — child porn. And it’s on your site on a massive scale. XVideos, you’ve made it easy to upload these videos and you’re profiting off of them. The millions who get off on these clips face no consequences and neither do the predators who upload them. The only people who suffer are the children who are abused and humiliated. I think of all the teenage girls out there now who, like me, are trapped inside this nightmare, feeling so alone. If you’re one of them, one of us, please stay strong and know you’ll get through this. All you can do is keep going. I’m 23 now and I’m in college studying to be a social worker, to help victims like me. This trauma won’t define me, but XVideos, your crimes against children will define you.