Brits are getting increasingly restless, as Pornhub has granted free premium subscriptions to fans in Italy, Spain, and France, which are struggling under coronavirus lockdowns, but the offer is yet to be extended to the UK.
As the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic has moved from China to Europe, forcing governments to declare nationwide lockdowns in an effort to curb the spread of the disease, Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular adult websites, has stepped in with a spate of measures to extend a helping hand to Europeans affected by quarantines.
The site has made its ad-free premium subscription, which includes ultra-high definition 4K and VR content, free to users in Italy from 12 March until 3 April to help them deal with the challenges of living under a national lockdown.
Premium access usually costs €9.99 (about £9.35) per month in Italy.
Boasting some 42 billion visits a year, the world’s most go-to online source of adult content has announced that it is donating its March proceeds from the live cam site Modelhub - a platform for amateur models to share and sell their X-rated content - to support Italy’s coronavirus victims, as the country has been the worst-hit by the respiratory disease among all European countries.
Italy has to date registered over 35,700 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 2,970 deaths.
Italy, Spain, and France have all declared nationwide lockdowns in recent days, with people required to stay indoors in an effort to suppress the spread of the new virus.
The site has since expanded its free premium offer to users in Spain and France, but not the UK, prompting Britain’s porn fans to angrily point out that Brits need free mucky movies too.
According to the Daily Star Online, when asked if it was considering granting a similar free premium offer to the UK, Pornhub said:
“We are assessing the COVID-19 pandemic daily to determine how else we can support our vast global community, including expanding free access to Pornhub Premium.We will keep our community informed of news and changes via Pornhub.com/blog and on social media”.
Brits, however, are getting increasingly impatient for Pornhub to extend its offer to the UK, with users online urging the website to stop dawdling.
Pornhub: Italians get free Pornhub Premium during the quarantine
— Mish (@Imphmon) March 18, 2020
Me and the boys: pic.twitter.com/dW8eMVIM9K
And the uk??????????????? Lol
— Chris Brown (@Racelineimages) March 18, 2020
So exactly how bad will it need to be for us to extend this to the UK?
— Lovin (@Lovertodayxx1) March 18, 2020
Please let me know!#covid19UK #coronavirus #uk #QuarantineLife
Pornhub Users in the UK when we get a free premium when the UK goes on lockdown pic.twitter.com/qq5mJBSgRi
— Steven_SZN (@LiamThfcc) March 18, 2020
😂😂😂 well then. ...thanks to pornhub being assholes the UK are guna have one hell of a baby boom now aren't they 😂😂😂
— Emily Emz (@Emily_Emz33) March 19, 2020
Patiently waiting for PornHub premium to be free in the UK like pic.twitter.com/GdRWtvhAnO
— char (@Charlieaavery) March 18, 2020
We know things aren’t really bad in the UK yet because Pornhub isn’t free 😉
— pete (@pjd23272) March 18, 2020
I'm just saying @Pornhub while I appreciate what you have done for Italy, I'm hoping you'll do the same for us in the UK if we end up in a full scale lockdown. 🙏🇬🇧😁
— Lazarus (@LazarusLivesUk) March 18, 2020
Many online users applauded the adult website’s swift response to the coronavirus-spawned emergency measures that people were struggling with.
“Pornhub's Premium Content Is Free All Month to Italians Stuck in lockdown”
— Wolfe, actually (@StopItWolfe) March 14, 2020
A porn site is doing more to prevent the spread of Covid19 than the UK ‘Prime Minister’.
That’s where we’re at folks.
Covid-19 = Coronavirus.
— Still Lost In Hull (@RoccoLostInHull) March 18, 2020
In Italy, targets overweight old men - bolognavirus.
In UK, we choose to ignore advice - moronavirus.
Brexiteer bigots defending ignoring advice - aloneavirus
Pornhub going free for countries shutdown - moanavirus
Public Opinion of UK's PM - BoJo'sAVirus
Other fans wondered whether Pornhub would be able to deal with the massive surge of fans amidst the pandemic, fearing that it would “crash”.
Once the UK closes all pubs, clubs and spaces; how long, in seconds, until PornHub crashes?
— Russell Kane (@russell_kane) March 12, 2020
There were some users online who didn’t share the overall enthusiastic appreciation for Pornhub, however.
Is it not obvious that “pedophile factories” like pornhub and its likes have to be shut down. Promoting incest and child rape as jerk off material ( even if fabricated ) is not acceptable. Our children deserve better. https://t.co/jDu5OcwycH
— Hrafnhildur (@hrafnhj) March 13, 2020
They hosted from this site after this news broke. There's a woman in the UK who had her assault on postrd and it was the #1 search result. There's something wrong with people's relationship to porn and pornhub capitalizes on it and does shit like this to generate positive press
— Laura (@_SaturnReturn) March 13, 2020
Since emerging in China’s Wuhan province in December 2019, the COVID-19 virus has spread to at least 164 countries and territories, according to the World Health Organisation.
The worldwide number of confirmed cases is over 218,800, with the death toll over 8,800.