The parent company of the pornographic site Pornhub – Aylo – has reportedly admitted to hosting adult videos featuring women who were coerced into performing sex acts on camera by a production company. CNN reported that the production company paid the website to stream its pornographic content from 2017 to 2019 – which Aylo knew included videos of women who did not give their consent.
After a federal lawsuit was filed against the production company, Aylo began taking down the videos. However, they were reposted by other users and remained online, the report said citing court documents.
In a statement, Aylo, which pleaded not guilty to the government’s charges of engaging in unlawful monetary transactions involving sex trafficking proceeds, said it “deeply regrets” the incident. “We were troubled to learn that a production company used criminal means to produce its content and submitted consent documentation that we now know was obtained by fraud and coercion. We must be vigilant to stop those seeking to use our platforms illegally, and to respond to ever-changing threats and challenges,” the company said, as quoted by a report by CNN.
The Canada-based company will have to pay a fine of 1.8 million dollars and compensate the sex trafficking victims, the report said. According to the agreement, Aylo will also face monitoring for three years. The charges against the company would be dropped if it complies with the agreement, the report added.
Meanwhile, Aylo’s new compliance director Soloman Friedman told CNN that the company does not acknowledge any criminal liability, however, they have now ensured measures to make sure a similar incident does not take place again.
