Name: 40 victims of the 'Girls Do Porn' sex-trafficking operation are suing Pornhub's parent company for $40 million, alleging it knowingly profited from illegal videos
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40 victims of the 'Girls Do Porn' sex-trafficking operation are suing Pornhub's parent company for $40 million, alleging it knowingly profited from illegal videos

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The words "Business Insider".Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.Pornhub was hit with a $40 million lawsuit from sex-trafficking victims the day after it said it had started deleting millions of videos from its platform, reported.The suit was filed by 40 women who were victims of a sex-trafficking ring known as "Girls Do Porn." The website for Girls Do Porn was after a civil court ruled the owners were guilty of coercing women into having sex in its videos, as well lying about whether those videos would be shared online.The women on Tuesday against MindGeek, Pornhub's parent company, alleging that it hosted Girls Do Porn videos in the knowledge of the company's illegal practices."As early as 2009, and definitely by fall 2016, MindGeek knew GirlsDoPorn was trafficking its victims by using fraud, coercion, and intimidation [...] Despite this knowledge, MindGeek continued to partner with GirlsDoPorn, never bothering to investigate or question its business partner regarding the mounting evidence of sex trafficking that MindGeek received," the suit said.It argued that it was an open secret in the porn industry that Girls Do Porn was scamming and coercing girls as soon as it started in 2009. In 2016, victims started to get in touch with Pornhub to have their videos removed, the suit said."I'm going to kill myself if this stays up here. I was scammed and told this was only going to be on DVDs in another country. Please I'm begging you I'll pay," one plaintiff said in a 2016 message to Pornhub. This same victim said they sent two more messages and the video was not taken off MindGeek's sites until after October 2019, the lawsuit added."I was told this video went to a private viewer, and now it is all over the internet. I was lied to, and this isn't okay," another plaintiff said in a 2016 message to MindGeek. A third plaintiff told MindGeek "me and other girls are being brutally harassed."Pornhub Girls Do Porn videos even after victims started to come forward and be covered in the press in 2019, and the suit alleged the site still hasn't managed to boot all the videos off its service. "As of December 12, 2020, MindGeek still hosts victims' videos on its websites, including Plaintiffs," it said.The plaintiffs said they endured harassment and ostracizing as the result of their videos being shared online, and all of them had suicidal thoughts as a result. Each plaintiff is seeking at least $1 million in damages.Girls Do Porn was a "content partner" on Pornhub, meaning the two companies had a contractual agreement. in 2019 that Pornhub had at one point described Girls Do Porn as "top shelf" content. The suit alleged this business relationship lasted from 2011 to 2019.The suit alleged that MindGeek tried to acquire Girls Do Porn's video library in 2018, but backed out after its due diligence turned up more evidence of the company's illegal practices.Business Insider contacted Pornhub for comment on the allegations.This suit comes as Pornhub is trying to fend off allegations that it profits from illegal content. Following an explosive on December 4 that accused the company of hosting rape videos and child pornography, the company so that only verified users can upload content, and .This came after both withdrew their services from Pornhub, and US lawmakers introduced a bill which, if passed, would allow sex-trafficking and revenge-porn victims to sue site hosts like Pornhub.NewsletterYour morning cheat sheet to get you caught up on what you need to know in tech. Sign up to 10 Things in Tech You Need to Know Today.Something is loading.Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.

The words "Business Insider".Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. It indicates a way to close an interaction, or dismiss a notification.Pornhub was hit with a $40 million lawsuit from sex-trafficking victims the day after it said it had started deleting millions of videos from its platform, reported.The suit was filed by 40 women who were victims of a sex-trafficking ring known as "Girls Do Porn." The website for Girls Do Porn was after a civil court ruled the owners were guilty of coercing women into having sex in its videos, as well lying about whether those videos would be shared...

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Isobel Asher Hamilton

Business Insider is an American financial and business news website founded in 2009 and owned by the German publishing house Axel Springer. It operates 14 national editions and an international edition. Several national editions are published in local languages.

40 victims of the 'Girls Do Porn' sex-trafficking operation are suing Pornhub's parent company for $40 million, alleging it knowingly profited from illegal videos

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