Daily US Times: Pornhub has been sued by 40 girls who say the website profited from a sex-trafficking operation by a content partner.
The girls – of all whom are referred to by the pseudonym Jane Doe and a number – were all victims of Girls Do Porn, whose owners have been charged with offences by the officials in the US.
The victims allege that the pornographic website and its parent company MindGeek knew of the allegations against the company but continued a partnership anyway.
It comes as Pornhub – one of the world’s most popular – cut off from customer payments amid a scandal over illegal content.
Payment providers Visa and Mastercard have cut ties with the site after a New York Times investigation accused the website of hosting child abuse and rape-related content.
The NYT exposé follows a BBC investigation which exposed the repeated uploading of a child rape to Pornhub and the impact it has had on the victim’s life.
The move has left the site with cryptocurrency options like Bitcoin as the only way to pay for subscriptions.
The 40 women are demanding a jury trial and seeking more than $1m each.
Details of the case are contained in a legal filing first reported by Vice.
Girls Do Porn was a part of MindGeek’s partner programmes until October last year, when the US Department of Justice effectively shut the porn producer down by arresting and charging its senior staff.
As soon as the charges were made – Pornhub and other MindGeek sites removed the Girls Do Porn channel, but the complaint alleges that “at this point, there was no longer a company left for MindGeek to partner with”.
You may read: Mastercard, Visa investigate Pornhub business relationship
