The Montreal company behind the Pornhub site reached an agreement with American justice to avoid a criminal trial on Thursday. She admitted to having enriched herself with the fruits of human trafficking for sexual exploitation. She will have to pay 1.85 million in penalties to the authorities in addition to compensating the victims.
The FBI had determined that the company had received money from a pornographic video company called GirlsDoPorn. However, several women said that the videos in question were broadcast without their consent. Some had even received assurances that they would not be made accessible on a public platform before agreeing to be filmed.
One complainant even stated that at the age of 18, she was drugged and then raped on camera by the crew of this production company. Her video had circulated widely on Aylo/Mindgeek platforms, to the point where she was recognized by strangers on the street, in addition to being chased “at all hours of the day and night” by obsessed men.
During a hearing before a judge in Brooklyn on Thursday, the Montreal porn giant admitted to having sometimes refused to remove videos from victims who requested it from its platforms.
“Motivated by profit, Aylo knowingly enriched itself by turning a blind eye to the concerns of victims who told the company they had been deceived and coerced into participating in illicit sexual activities,” said one senior FBI official James Smith in a statement.
“I hope that today’s proceedings will bring a sense of justice to the victims in this case and that they will be able to move forward with their lives,” he added.
The compensation that will be paid by the company to the victims will be determined on a case-by-case basis, but in no case can it be less than $3,000, specifies the agreement document filed with the court.
Aylo also agreed to submit to monitoring by an independent monitor who will keep an eye on its security protocols for three years.