The owner of Pornhub, one of the world’s largest adult content websites, has admitted to profiting from sex trafficking and agreed to make payments to women whose videos were posted without their permission, federal prosecutors in New York announced Thursday.
Aylo Holdings, the website’s parent company, reached a deferred prosecution agreement to settle charges of engaging in illegal financial transactions involving sex-trafficking proceeds, according to the office of Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
The agreement calls for the Montreal-based company to pay more than $1.8 million to the US government, as well as make separate payments to individual women harmed by the trafficking. It also requires the appointment of an independent monitor for three years, after which charges will be dismissed.
“It is our hope that this resolution, including certain agreed payments to women whose images are posted on company platforms and independent oversight brings some measure of closure to those negatively affected,” Peace said in the statement.
Aylo Holdings, owner of the website Pornhub, has admitted to profiting from sex trafficking and agreed to pay victims. AP A deferred prosecution agreement was reached in which the company paid the US government $1.8 million, and other payments to victims. Getty Images
James Smith, head of the FBI’s New York office, said Aylo Holdings “knowingly enriched itself by turning a blind eye” to victims who told the company they had been duped and coerced into the videos.
Prosecutors said Aylo has agreed to pay compensation to victims, but details such as who is eligible and how they can apply will be released.
The charges stemmed from Aylo’s role in hosting the videos and receiving payments from GirlsDoPorn.
The operator of the now-defunct adult film production company was charged and ultimately convicted of multiple sex-trafficking crimes, including forcing young women to engage in on-camera sexual acts that were then posted on Pornhub and other adult sites without their consent.
An FBI investigation revealed that Pornhub was profiting from adult film production companies that deliberately coerced women into producing pornographic content. AP
Prosecutors say that between 2017 and 2020, Aylo received money that company officials knew or should have known was derived from the GirlsDoPorn sex-trafficking operation.
They also say the company did not act quickly or thoroughly enough to remove all non-consensual videos, even after several women appealed directly to the company.
Aylo operates free and paid adult websites where content providers can post and distribute adult videos, with Aylo generating revenue through licensing agreements, advertisements and subscriptions.
According to prosecutors, the company received more than $100,000 from GirlsDoPorn as well as about $764,000 in payments from advertisers associated with the production company.
Aylo Holdings, formerly known as MindGeek, said in a statement that it “deeply regrets” hosting content from GirlsDoPorn on its streaming video platform.
Aylo said GirlsDoPorn supplied the company with a written consent form purportedly signed by the woman but it was unaware the form was obtained through fraud and coercion.
The company also said prosecutors did not find Aylo or his associates violated any federal criminal laws that prohibit sex trafficking or the sexual exploitation of minors.
“Aylo has pleaded not guilty to any crime, and the Government has agreed to dismiss charges against the Company after 3 years, subject to the Company’s continued compliance with the Deferred Prosecution Agreement,” the company said.
Thursday’s agreement filed in federal court in Brooklyn comes after the European Union announced Wednesday that Pornhub and two other major porn sites will be required to verify the age of their users, expanding the reach of the Digital Services Act designed to keep people safe on the internet.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
