LDS Mormon Investing and Pornography Distribution Filters

Pornography isn't mentioned in the Word of Wisdom. D&C 89 is about diet, not media. But the LDS church has been extremely clear about pornography as a moral harm, and observant members apply that teaching to their investment decisions as much as to their personal lives. Let me walk through what this looks like when you're screening stocks in 2026.

The LDS Position on Pornography

The church has issued numerous statements condemning pornography. The most direct scriptural basis is in modern revelation and teaching rather than the Doctrine and Covenants specifically. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve have repeatedly warned members against pornography consumption.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, in a 2004 address, called pornography "a growing evil" and urged members to protect themselves. President Russell M. Nelson has continued the teaching. The Gospel Topics essay on pornography, published on the official church website, describes pornography as "deeply harmful" and "morally wrong," and specifically urges members to avoid both consumption and financial support.

The extension to investment is clear. If pornography is morally harmful, investing in companies that profit from it creates a conscience problem. Most LDS investment guides and financial advisors treat pornography exposure as an automatic exclusion category, similar to tobacco or alcohol under the Word of Wisdom.

What Counts as Pornography Exposure

Here's where the screening gets complicated. The adult entertainment industry has very few pure-play publicly traded companies. Most direct pornography producers are private. The publicly traded exposure comes through:

1. Media conglomerates that distribute adult content through cable, streaming, or pay-per-view
2. Hotel chains that offer adult content in rooms
3. Internet platforms that host or enable adult content
4. Payment processors that handle adult content transactions
5. Telecom and internet service providers that carry adult content traffic

Each of these creates a different screening question with different answers.

Media Conglomerates

Comcast (CMCSA): owns NBCUniversal, Sky, and cable/internet infrastructure. Comcast's cable systems historically offered adult content through pay-per-view and premium channels. The company has reduced this exposure over the years but hasn't eliminated it entirely. Fails a strict "any adult content" screen but passes a revenue threshold screen because adult content is under 1% of total revenue.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD): owns HBO, CNN, Discovery, Max, Warner Bros. studios. Has some adult content programming through HBO Max's late-night lineup and some direct content. Fails strict screens, passes threshold screens.

Paramount Global (PARA): owns Paramount, CBS, MTV, Showtime. Showtime has historically had adult content programming in its late-night schedule. Mixed position.

Netflix (NFLX): streaming service with some mature content including explicit scenes in original programming. Not pornography in the traditional sense but includes sexualized content. Depends on how strict your screen is. Most LDS screens permit Netflix because explicit but non-pornographic content is a different category than actual pornography.

Walt Disney Company (DIS): historically excluded from LDS screens based on content concerns despite not producing pornography. Some older screening methodologies treat Disney's perceived cultural values as problematic. Mainstream LDS screens generally permit Disney because it doesn't produce adult content.

Internet Platforms and Hosting

Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG): Google Search returns adult content results. YouTube has age-restricted content that includes sexualized material, though explicit pornography is prohibited on the platform. Alphabet is a gigantic diversified company, and adult content is far under 1% of its revenue. Passes threshold screens but fails strict "any association" screens.

Meta Platforms (META): Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp. Platforms generally prohibit explicit content but allow suggestive material. Instagram in particular has been criticized for algorithmic promotion of suggestive content. Under threshold-based screens, META passes. Under strict screens, it's borderline.

Amazon (AMZN): sells adult content through its retail channels (books, DVDs, streaming through Prime Video). Adult content is a tiny fraction of Amazon's revenue. Passes threshold screens.

Reddit (RDDT): went public in 2024. Hosts substantial adult content in subreddits, though these are typically gated. A larger percentage of Reddit's user activity involves adult content than at Meta or Alphabet. Fails stricter LDS screens, borderline on threshold.

Pinterest (PINS): generally clean of adult content. Passes.

Snap (SNAP): Snapchat has had adult content issues periodically. Generally acceptable under threshold screens.

Hotel Chains

Marriott International (MAR): historically offered adult content in hotel rooms. In 2011, Marriott committed to phasing out adult content from hotel offerings. As of 2026, Marriott no longer offers adult pay-per-view content. Passes LDS screens cleanly.

Hilton Worldwide (HLT): similar position. Phased out adult content from hotel offerings. Passes.

Hyatt Hotels (H): phased out adult content. Passes.

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (WH): phased out adult content at most properties. Passes.

Choice Hotels International (CHH): budget-oriented chain. Generally clean. Passes.

The major hotel chains have all committed to adult content removal over the past 15 years, which was driven partly by shareholder activism (including LDS-aligned investor groups) and partly by declining revenue from the category. This is one area where LDS screening concerns have been effectively addressed by the industry itself.

Telecom and Internet Infrastructure

AT&T (T): previously owned WarnerMedia (spun off in 2022 as part of Warner Bros. Discovery) and historically had direct adult content distribution. Now primarily a telecom company. Carries adult content traffic on its networks but doesn't produce or distribute directly. Under threshold screens, passes.

Verizon (VZ): similar position. Telecom that carries internet traffic including adult content. No direct production. Passes.

T-Mobile US (TMUS): passes.

Charter Communications (CHTR): cable operator. Similar position to Comcast. Passes threshold screens.

The telecom and cable infrastructure question is whether providing pipes that carry adult content traffic constitutes financial support of pornography. Most LDS screens treat infrastructure as neutral (similar to the payment processor question) because the companies don't produce, distribute, or promote adult content specifically.

Payment Processors

Visa (V): processes transactions for adult content purchases. Visa has a history of restricting adult content merchants periodically. For example, in 2020 Visa suspended processing for Pornhub after allegations of hosting non-consensual material. The company has various policies for adult content merchants but hasn't excluded the category entirely. Under threshold screens, Visa passes because adult content is a tiny fraction of transaction volume.

Mastercard (MA): similar position. Has tightened adult content processing requirements. Passes threshold screens.

PayPal (PYPL): has restricted adult content processing more aggressively. Generally doesn't serve adult content merchants directly. Passes LDS screens cleanly.

American Express (AXP): historically more restrictive about adult content merchants. Passes.

Pure-Play Adult Entertainment: Is There Any?

The short answer is almost no. The major adult content companies are private:

• MindGeek (owns Pornhub, YouPorn, Brazzers): privately held
• WGCZ Holding (owns XVideos, XNXX): privately held
• Aylo (new name for MindGeek after 2023 rebrand): private

There are no major publicly traded pure-play adult content companies in US or European markets. Historically, some smaller companies like Private Media Group traded on OTC markets, but these are marginal and not held in any mainstream portfolio.

This means the LDS pornography screen is easier to implement than you might think. You're not fighting to exclude a major pure-play company from an index. You're mostly managing the small residual exposure of diversified media and tech conglomerates.

Practical Threshold Screening

For most LDS investors, a practical threshold-based approach works well. Here's a typical configuration:

Automatic exclusion: Any company whose primary business is adult entertainment production, distribution, or hosting. Based on current public markets, this catches essentially zero names.

Exclude at 5% threshold: Any company with more than 5% of revenue from adult content. This catches very few names; most are private. Historically, some smaller media companies hit this threshold but have phased out or been acquired.

Permitted with note: Media conglomerates with minor adult content exposure (under 5%). This includes Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Paramount. Most LDS screens permit these with the understanding that the exposure is incidental and diluted.

Clean: Hotel chains, telecom companies, payment processors, and most tech platforms fall into the clean category for pornography-specific screening, though they may have other screening concerns.

The Broader "Content" Question

Some LDS investors extend pornography screening to include any media company that produces explicit or sexualized content, even if it's not technically pornography. This is a broader cultural-content screen that goes beyond strict pornography exclusion.

Under this broader screen, you might exclude:
- Netflix (explicit content in some original programming)
- HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery (explicit content in HBO originals)
- Showtime/Paramount (explicit content)
- Some video game publishers (mature-rated content)

This is a stricter approach that significantly narrows the media sector. It's more about personal cultural values than about the pornography exclusion specifically. Most mainstream LDS screens don't apply this broader cultural filter, but individual investors can tighten their screens if they prefer.

A Real Portfolio Example

Let me put this together with a sample LDS-screened media and tech allocation:

Media conglomerates (threshold-permitted):
- Walt Disney (DIS): clean from pornography perspective
- Comcast (CMCSA): permitted under threshold
- Netflix (NFLX): permitted under threshold, though strict investors may exclude for explicit content

Internet and tech (threshold-permitted):
- Alphabet (GOOGL)
- Amazon (AMZN)
- Meta (META)
- Microsoft (MSFT)

Payment and infrastructure (clean):
- Visa (V)
- Mastercard (MA)
- Verizon (VZ)
- AT&T (T)

Excluded under strict screening:
- Reddit (RDDT) may be excluded due to larger percentage of user activity involving adult content
- Some smaller adult-content-adjacent names not in major indexes

The resulting portfolio covers most of the investable tech and media universe with minor exclusions. It's a workable approach.

Bottom Line

LDS pornography screening is easier in practice than in theory because the pure-play adult content industry is privately held and doesn't appear in public markets. The main question is how to handle the minor adult content exposure of diversified media conglomerates, and the answer for most LDS investors is threshold-based tolerance combined with active awareness.

The deeper point is that this screen reflects LDS teaching that isn't in D&C 89 but is just as important to observant members. The Word of Wisdom covers diet; pornography screening comes from a separate tradition of church teaching about moral protection and family values. A complete LDS investment framework has to address both categories, and the good news is that neither one requires dramatic portfolio surgery. Most of the work is at the margins, and most mainstream stocks pass both screens with only minor adjustments.

For practical implementation, pair a tobacco/alcohol/coffee screen with a pornography threshold screen and you've covered the major LDS ethical investment concerns without excluding so many stocks that you can't build a diversified portfolio. The result is an investment approach that aligns with LDS values while still providing meaningful market exposure and long-term return potential.