The Global Story

Episode details

World Service,11 Nov 2026,26 mins

How porn changed the internet - and everything else

The Global StoryAvailable for over a year

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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