More than 30 women accuse Pornhub of profiting from sexual abuse videos in new lawsuit
A new lawsuit filed in the U.S. against MindGeek, the Montreal-based owner of online porn giant Pornhub, is asking that the case be tried before a jury over allegations the website allowed child pornography and other illegal videos to be posted to the Internet.
The suit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in California on behalf of 34 women from Canada, Thailand, the U.S. and several other countries who allege videos of them were uploaded to Pornhub, the world’s largest porn site, without their consent, and in some cases, when they were minors.
(The full text of the complaint is posted below).
MindGeek, which operates Pornhub and several other porn sites, is headquartered in Montreal and takes in billions of dollars in revenue from the content uploaded to its site.
The lawsuit alleges MindGeek operates like “a classic criminal enterprise” headed by co-owners Feras Antoon, a Canadian resident, and Berg Bergmair who go to great lengths to shield themselves from the public eye and profit from videos of non-consensual acts and sexual assaults by allowing users to upload them to Pornhub, MindGeek’s flagship website.
The porn enterprise responds to threats of exposure with smear campaigns against critics and internet hacking to conceal its criminal activities, including: “human trafficking; child pornography; criminal copyright piracy; internet hacking, stalking, and doxing; blackmail and extortion; mail and wire fraud; embezzlement, bank and creditor fraud; tax evasion; and money laundering,” the lawsuit alleges.
Several disturbing allegations are included in the suit about women finding videos of themselves on Pornhub without their consent.
In one case, a woman alleged she was raped when she was 22 after being given a date rape drug at a party in 2017 and a video of the attack was uploaded to Pornhub without her knowledge.
After demanding that the video be taken down, the lawsuit claims “Pornhub misrepresented that without a url code, title, or link there was no way for them to identify the video to remove it.”
“To this day, Jane Doe No. 15 continues to be recognized in public, harassed, and called a ‘slut’ or a ‘whore.’ This experience has caused Jane Doe No. 15 to suffer from severe depression and anxiety.”
In another case, one plaintiff alleged she discovered a video of her online that shows that her now ex-husband had drugged her, sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious and uploaded a recording of the incident to Pornhub and other sites.
The woman’s former husband was charged in June 2021, according to the lawsuit, with sexual assault and distributing intimate images without consent.
The lawsuit alleges that the woman asked that the video be taken down and had to get the police involved. While the video was removed three days after contacting law enforcement, copies of the video spread elsewhere on the web.
“In addition, MindGeek added Jane Doe No. 14’s video to its affiliated sites as a cheap way of adding additional content and driving traffic. Of the 1,900 search results, Pornhub was the source for all of the active videos,” the lawsuit alleged.
MINDGEEK RESPONDS TO ALLEGATIONS
None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been tested or proven in court.
Pornhub announced last December it has banned video uploads from unverified users. In a written statement to CTV News Thursday, MindGeek said it is currently reviewing and investigating the lawsuit.
“Pornhub has zero tolerance for illegal content and investigates any complaint or allegation made about content on our platforms,” the statement stated.
“The allegations in today’s complaint that Pornhub is a criminal enterprise that traffics women and is run like 'The Sopranos' are utterly absurd, completely reckless and categorically false.”
Pornhub also doubled down on Michael J. Bowe, the U.S. lawyer representing the 34 women in the lawsuit, accusing him of being “a soldier of the ultra-right wing effort to shut down the adult content industry.”
“We stand resolutely with all victims of internet-related abuse. Pornhub takes every complaint regarding the abuse of its platform seriously, including those of the plaintiffs in this case,” the company’s statement said.
LAWYER WANTS TO SEE MINDGEEK EXECS IN COURT
In an interview with CTV News on Thursday, Bowe said he denies the accusation that he's on a mission to end porn.
“Adult entertainment is legitimate entertainment, it's a legitimate business, it's protected by the First Amendment here in the United States, but it needs to be between two consenting adults,” he said Thursday.
“And there should be no place for systemic appearances of underage pornography, rape videos, or anything like that.”
He said it’s time for the owners of MindGeek to “come into a courtroom and be confronted by these 34 women.”
The lawsuit was filed on the same day a parliamentary committee released a report into its study of Pornhub.
Among the recommendations in the House of Commons ethics committee report is that the federal government hold online platforms liable for failing to prevent the upload, or ensure the timely removal, of child sexual abuse or non-consensual content.
The committee also recommended that the government make changes to the Mandatory Reporting Act to make the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre the designated law enforcement agency to handle reports of child sexual abuse materials.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW From yearning for a change to cost of living, why some Canadians have left or may leave the country
For some immigrants, their dreams of permanently settling in Canada have taken an unexpected twist.
Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study
Studies have shown that ultraprocessed foods can have a detrimental impact on health. But 30 years of research show they don’t all have the same impact.
NEW Capital gains tax change 'shortsighted' and 'sows division' business groups tell Freeland
Forging ahead with increasing Canada's capital gains inclusion rate 'sows division,' and is a 'shortsighted' way to improve the deficit, business groups are warning Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Ontario man frustrated after $3,500 paving job leaves driveway in shambles
An Ontario man considering having his driveway paved received a quote from a company for $7,000, but then, another paver in the neighbourhood knocked on his door and offered half that rate.
Defence attacks Stormy Daniels' credibility as she returns to the stand in Trump's hush money trial
Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump's hush money trial as the defence tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor's salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she was paid to keep quiet.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
What is whooping cough and should Canadians be concerned as Europe declares outbreak?
There is currently a whooping cough epidemic in Europe, with 10 times as many cases compared to the previous two years. While an outbreak has not been declared nationwide in Canada, whooping cough is regularly detected in the country.
Florida deputies who fatally shot U.S. airman burst into wrong apartment, attorney says
Deputies responding to a disturbance call at a Florida apartment complex burst into the wrong unit and fatally shot a Black U.S. Air Force airman who was home alone when they saw he was armed with a gun, an attorney for the man's family said Wednesday.
Air Canada ranks near bottom on customer satisfaction: survey
Air Canada ranks below most other major North American airlines on customer satisfaction, with airfares a particular sore point, according to a new survey.