Aylo (Pornhub) Reaches $120M Settlement in Sex Trafficking Lawsuits

LOS ANGELES – Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub.com, has reached a combined agreement in two 2021 class action lawsuits brought by sex-trafficking survivors. The proposed settlement includes a $120 million fund for class action members and an overhaul of Aylo’s trust and safety practices.

The complaints were initially filed in federal district courts in California and Alabama. These lawsuits stemmed from the "Children of Pornhub" investigative commentary written by Nicholas Kristof in December 2020 for the New York Times opinion section. Anti-pornography groups cited Kristof's piece as evidence for allegations linking the online adult industry with sex trafficking and child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

According to a motion for preliminary approval filed late Friday in a federal district court, attorneys for the plaintiffs have asked U.S. District Judge Wesley Hsu of the Central District of California to give an initial approval for establishing the settlement fund. If approved by the court, the settlement will benefit a victim class of individuals who were under 18 years of age when they were depicted in child sexual abuse material and other online exploitation that was uploaded and made viewable on Aylo-owned websites between February 12, 2011, and December 6, 2024.

The motion states, “Behind the legal standards and docket entries in this motion are thousands of children whose sexual exploitation was recorded and uploaded to [the] defendants’ pornography websites by third parties and distributed by [the] defendants across the world. Their videos and images were viewed over 684 million times on Pornhub.com and [the] defendants’ other websites, some of the most visited websites on Earth.”

Aylo, known as MindGeek at the time of the lawsuits, was acquired by the private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners in 2023. Ethical Capital Partners renamed the company Aylo and has since been dealing with multiple legal actions originally directed against MindGeek. The proposed resolution represents a potentially significant legal and financial development for Aylo as its current ownership continues confronting litigation originating before and around its 2023 acquisition and corporate rebranding.

Settlement Terms and Safeguards

The proposed agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by Aylo, nor does it include any admission regarding whether the company is entitled to immunity under Section 230. However, Aylo has agreed to pay $120 million into a settlement fund over six years.

Other elements of the settlement include an overhaul of Aylo’s trust and safety practices. These practices have been a central focus since the acquisition of Pornhub.com and its other sites and studios by Ethical Capital Partners. Actions outlined by the settlement include efforts to verify the ages of all users who want to upload content and people who appear in content. This includes an overhaul to record-keeping policies for content creators, porn producers, and adult studios.

Aylo has adopted many stipulations in the proposed settlement as standard policy. For example, all content creators involved in Pornhub's model programs are required to upload identity verification documents. Additionally, online content partner account holders, typically studios and producers, must pass criminal background checks to monetize content.

The websites further agreed to implement extensive content moderation by using technological tools and human moderation to review, detect, and remove prohibited content from their websites. They will also conduct mandatory workplace training to prevent child sexual abuse material. Aylo additionally began reporting to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the years since the Kristof column. NCMEC reporting is included in the proposed settlement of the class actions.

Legal Process and Timeline

The two cases being settled are Jane Doe v. MindGeek USA Inc. et al. and Doe #1 et al v. MG Freesites LTD et al. U.S. district courts granted class certification for anyone who was under 18 when they appeared in a video or image viewable on any MindGeek website starting in February 2011.

In June, after a period of mediation, the parties in both cases signed a term sheet and began working to finalize a joint settlement agreement. On Friday, the parties filed the proposed agreement with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, seeking the court’s preliminary approval.

After a preliminary approval of the motion, Judge Hsu would schedule a final approval hearing in court within 96 days of issuing the order adopting the motion. In the time prior to that final approval hearing, any class member can file objections to any component of the settlement proposal.

An Aylo spokesperson declined to comment on the proposed settlement, citing ongoing litigation.

Key Facts

• Aylo, parent company of Pornhub.com, agreed to a $120 million settlement in two class action lawsuits.
• The lawsuits were filed in 2021 in federal district courts in California and Alabama.
• The complaints followed Nicholas Kristof's "Children of Pornhub" article in The New York Times in December 2020.
• The settlement fund will benefit victims under 18 depicted in content on Aylo-owned websites between February 12, 2011, and December 6, 2024.
• Aylo will implement new trust and safety practices, including age verification for uploaders and content subjects, and criminal background checks for content partners.
• The proposed agreement does not include an admission of wrongdoing by Aylo.