Pornhub faces charges for knowingly profiting from non-consensual, explicit content featuring over 30 women, half of whom were underage.
The case against Pornhub and MindGeek states that the adult sites deliberately turned a blind eye to the kind of content that was being uploaded.
According to a statement released by law firm, Brown Rudnick, this failure to “self-police” conveniently led to both sites profiting from videos that depicted: “rape, child exploitation, revenge porn, trafficking, and other non-consensual sexual content“.
The lawyer representing these women, Michael Bowe, claims that Pornhub places no restrictions on their content, which allows for a better Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), essentially driving more traffic to their site and increasing profits.
He labels them as a “rogue industry” that does not “self-police” because they are aware that this illegal content exists on their site.
The site accumulates over 130 million users daily, a number that allegedly wipes Netflix and Amazon out of the ballpark.
However, despite its sheer popularity, some feel as though the site should have been shut down “a long time ago“, with their most recent lawsuit supporting this belief.
Google ‘pornhub lawsuit’
They shared content without consent, including depictions of rape+assault.
Plus, it’s pornhub – they should’ve been shutdown a long time ago— Curmudgeopath (@AuntyFashitz) June 17, 2021
MindGeek denied the allegations, stating that their support of “non-consensual imagery or child sexual abuse material” is “patently false” and that the company strives to eliminate this kind of content.
However, their delayed responses in removing this material from the site suggests otherwise.
One of the victims, who goes by the pseudonym Aubrey, claimed that it took three days for Pornhub to remove a video featuring her and her ex-husband.
The video was filmed without her knowledge and had reached over 400,000 views by the time a friend informed her of it.
Pornhub CEO, Feras Antoon, mentioned that this explicit, non-consensual content makes the platform “lose money” and “completely ruins” their brand.
Regardless, this does not explain their failure to act quickly and implement stricter guidelines regarding user-generated content.
Pornhub repeatedly pushed her to confirm that she was the person in the video, to which Aubrey responded: “I know this is me by several things. That is my bed, I have a mole on my right hip, that is my face, my voice, THAT IS ME and I am p****d.”
When asked by CBS what she would say to Pornhub’s CEO’s and Executives, Aubrey responded, “How would they like it if it was someone they loved – their child, their sister?”
Another victim, going by the pseudonym Isabelle, claimed she felt incredibly guilty and shameful, where she struggled to look at herself for six months.
An intimate video featuring her, at just 17, and her boyfriend made it onto the site, amassing over 200,000 views.
“Just knowing that that many people saw it really messed me up.”
Bowe hopes that a successful case outcome will ensure that Pornhub implements policies to guarantee that only verified, legally compliant consensual content is uploaded to the site. In this way, similar incidents can be prevented from occurring in the future.
Additionally, he aims to seek damages for the devastation this exploitation has caused these victims.
“I will never, ever be able to recover the emotional pain that this has caused me,” Aubrey told CBS.
30+ MORE survivors sue Pornhub in new lawsuit.
— Eliza (@elizableu) June 17, 2021
As more victims come forward, only time will tell if they are compensated for this incredible exploitation on their private lives and mental health.
