The Problem
Update [July 2021]:
After being placed on the 2021 Dirty Dozen List, Wish executives notified NCOSE that MindGeek’s advertising arm TrafficJunky had been using their logo without their knowledge or permission. Wish wrote us: “We’ve spoken with TrafficJunky as we have never had any agreement with them, nor have they ever served ads on our behalf. They have removed our logo from their website and have ensured they will no longer misrepresent any partnership between us.” You can read more here.
Furthermore, NCOSE noted that Wish is no longer selling spycams advertising non-consensually filmed images – a highly problematic practice we’ve been asking them to change since early 2020. Wish representatives confirmed that this is against their corporate policies and that they review listings on a daily basis for inappropriate tagging. This type of advertising normalized and even encouraged criminal behavior against women.
While we applaud this change to spycam advertising, Wish still has more cleaning up to do to rid its site of sexually exploitative material. Take action below to encourage them to remove all sex dolls – many of which look like children – and misogynistic apparel.
Wish, a top ten retail shopping website and app used by over 500 million people, is one of the few mainstream corporations still working with the world’s biggest sexual abusers—MindGeek and Pornhub—even though child sexual abuse material, depictions of actual rape and sex trafficking, and non-consensually recorded and/or shared intimate videos abound on the website. Not only that, but Wish’s profits rest on the marketing of child-like sex dolls, spycams advertised as useful for filming women nude without permission, and misogynistic apparel.
Wish is not “shopping made fun”—it is shopping made exploitative.
Call on them to stop prioritizing profits over people by taking action below!
The shopping platform, unlike Amazon, was built specifically for smartphones and connects customers directly to third-party manufacturers for “dirt cheap prices.” Wish is the third most-downloaded shopping application in the world, currently shipping to 140 out of 195 countries. With its accessibility and wild popularity, Wish is valued at $1.9 billion and growing, as the company just went public in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Wish remains one of the only major corporate entities continuing to support the infrastructure of the sexual exploitation industry. Wish is a top advertiser for hardcore pornography conglomerate MindGeek’s websites, which include Pornhub.¹ Public outrage at MindGeek is soaring as numerous victims have come forward about their sexual abuse, sex trafficking, child sexual abuse being filmed and then uploaded and shared countless times on Pornhub and their other websites. Others have shared that Pornhub profited from distributing non-consensually recorded and/or non-consensually uploaded intimate videos. With individuals like Rose Kalemba speaking up, 2 million+ signatures on a Change.org petition, a groundbreaking New York Times article, Visa, Mastercard & Discover cutting ties with Pornhub, the Canadian Government calling MindGeek to account, and lawsuits mounting against them, Wish knows that they are partnering with the world’s biggest serial exploiters.
In an investigative hearing before the Canadian Parliament, MindGeek’s co-owner and CEO Feras Antoon told members that 50% of their revenue comes from advertising.²
It certainly seems like the perfect partnership when one considers that so many videos of non-consensually recorded and uploaded intimate videos abound on Pornhub and that Wish sells and markets spy cameras for filming women in various private settings.
The sex dolls being sold by Wish literally turn women and children into sex objects. As Dr. Maras and Dr. Shapiro note in the Journal of Internet Law, sex dolls “have the potential of altering individuals’ views and perceptions of relationships, ultimately, having them interact with humans as they would with the dolls and robots.”³
What does it lead to when hardcore pornography videos sexualizing what is meant to look like or actually is a minor (which is one of the most popular topics in porn today) are shown with retail advertisements for childlike sex dolls by their side? Or when non-consensually filmed pornography is shown next to an ad selling spycams? The impact of Wish products being advertised right next to porn’s abusive themes is perpetuating a culture that believes it is okay to sexually abuse or exploit someone—and Wish can make it happen for “dirt cheap.”
Even more, Wish reviews are littered with porn uploaded by users.
Wish hosts, sells, profits from, and fuels sexual exploitation.
Help us send a message to Wish to prioritize people over profits! Take action below!
See Our Requests For Improvement
REQUESTS TO WISH:
- Stop funding the sexual exploitation industry and cease business with MindGeek and all pornography and prostitution websites.
- Reject profits from sexual abuse and exploitation by refusing to sell items like spycams specifically marketed to film women in various intimate moments and sex dolls, particularly childlike and full-body sex dolls.
WARNING: Any pornographic images have been blurred, but are still suggestive. There may also be graphic text descriptions shown in these sections.
POSSIBLE TRIGGER.
Proof
Take Action
Help educate others and demand change by sharing these on social media:
Updates
