Pornhub, one of the world’s largest adult content portals, admitted profiting from sex trafficking and agreed to make payments to women who appeared in videos published without consent, U.S. prosecutors announced Friday.
Aylo Holdings, the parent company of the online portal, has reached an agreement to resolve a charge related to illegal monetary transactions involving sex trafficking proceeds, according to the office of Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the District East New York.
The agreement calls for the company, based in Montreal, Canada, to pay more than $1.8 million (€1.6 million) to the US government, as well as separate payments to the women harmed by the action. It also requires the appointment of an independent monitor for three years, after which the charges will be dropped.
“We hope that this resolution, which includes certain agreed-upon payments to women who viewed images posted on the company’s platforms, and independent monitoring, will provide some avenue for relief to those affected,” Peace said in a statement.
FBI New York Office Director James Smith said Aylo Holdings “knowingly enriched itself by turning a blind eye” to victims who told the company they were tricked and coerced into participating in the videos to take.
Prosecutors said Aylo agreed to pay compensation to these women, although details about who will benefit from the compensation and how to access it have not been disclosed.
The accusation arose after Aylo received videos and accepted payments from GirlsDoPorn.
The operators of the now-defunct adult film production company were accused of a series of sex trafficking crimes, including coercing young women into filmed sex acts that were then posted on Pornhub and other websites. ‘for adults, without the consent of these women.
Prosecutors said that between 2017 and 2020, Aylo received money that company employees knew or should have known came from GirlsDoPorn’s sex trafficking activities.
Prosecutors also argued that the company did not act quickly enough to remove the non-consensual videos, even after several women directly urged it to do so.
Aylo operates adult websites, both free and paid, where content providers can publish and distribute adult videos, generating revenue through licensing, advertising and subscription agreements.
According to prosecutors, the company received more than 100 thousand dollars (90.8 thousand euros) from GirlsDoPorn, as well as approximately 764 thousand dollars (694 thousand euros) in payments from advertisers attributed to the production company.
Aylo Holdings, formerly known as MindGeek, said in a statement that it “deeply regrets” hosting GirlsDoPorn content on video streaming platforms.
The company says GirlsDoPorn provided consent forms, purportedly signed by the women, but is unaware that they were obtained through fraud and coercion.
The company further stated that prosecutors did not find that Aylo or its subsidiaries violated federal criminal laws prohibiting sex trafficking or sexual exploitation of minors.
“Aylo has pleaded not guilty to any crime and the government has agreed to drop charges against the company after three years, provided the company continues to comply with the deferred prosecution agreement,” he said.
The agreement, presented in Brooklyn federal court, comes after the European Union announced Wednesday that Pornhub and two other major porn sites would be required to verify the age of users, expanding the reach of pornography laws. on the Web.
Source: DN
