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The Washington Post was one of the news sites affected by the X-rated tech glitch
AFP via Getty Images
Major US news websites have been hit with an embarrassing tech glitch that caused hardcore porn to be advertised on their old articles.
Publications including The Washington Post, New York Magazine and Huffington Post were all affected as the domain from a defunct video hosting website Vidme expired and was purchased by an adult film company, 5 Star Porn HD, Vice first reported.
This meant that apparently any vid.me embedded videos were redirecting to the porn site’s homepage.
Vidme, was founded in 2014 as a competitor to YouTube but it shut down in 2017. While their Twitter account still remains, the Vidme domain recently lapsed - and that’s when 5 Star Porn HD seized the opportunity for some advertising.
It was Twitter user @dox_gay that brought attention to the mishap on Thursday afternoon by sharing censrored screenshots.
The images showed X-rated content popping up in articles, such as a New York agazine about John Boehner’s” creepy kissy face” and another Huffington Post story from 2017.
Twitter hasn’t noticed but a now-defunct video hosting/advertising platform (VidMe) let their domain expire so it w… https://t.co/XOsB4q6ojR— DOXIE 🌻 (@DOXIE 🌻) 1626957676
An Uproxx article about Donald Trump’s CNN GOP debate in 2015, before his presidential election run was also affected.
A screenshot from an article from New York Magazine about about John Boehner’s” creepy kissy face” that features the porn advertisementNew York Magazine
A screenshot from an article from The Washington Post that also features the porn advertisementThe Washington Post
Some of the explicit videos were titled: “Bottoms Up Brianna,” and “Naughty Spy Girls Part 2” and it appears to have affected historic articles between 2014-16.
Other websites that were affected include: Vox, the Mirror, Rolling Stone, Business Insider Australia, Newsweek, Kotaku, Vanity Fair, and Teen Vogue,The National File reported.
Subsequently after it was highlighted on social media, Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Vox, Business Insider Australia, Kotaku, and Teen Vogue appear to have removed the porn from their articles so far, while Uproxx redirected the article link to its homepage.
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