How the online smut king built porn into an addiction machine

He fought porn addiction for 23 years — now he helps others find freedom

The Freedom Group was founded in 2023 and works to help men gain freedom from pornography addiction. / Credit: Courtesy of Joe Masek CNA Staff, Jun 15, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA). At 8 years old, Minnesota native Joe Masek was exposed to pornography for the first time and went on to struggle with an addiction to it for 23 years. Through a series of actions he finally gained freedom and after experiencing a calling to help other men, he founded a mini…

How the online smut king built porn into an addiction machine

He didn’t just build a business. He rewired a culture. Fabian Thylmann, a German tech bro with a knack for algorithms and a nose for profit, quietly stitched together the Franken-monster we now call mainstream porn. Through sites like Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube, he industrialized arousal, stripped sex of intimacy, and flooded the internet with content so extreme it would once have sparked criminal trials — not subscriptions. Zuckerberg rewire…