Pornhub has been sued by 40 women who say it profited from a sex-trafficking operation by a content partner. The women were all victims of Girls Do Porn, whose owners have been charged with offences by US officials.
The victims allege that Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek knew of the allegations against the company, but continued a partnership anyway. It comes as Pornhub finds itself cut off from customer payments amid a scandal over illegal content. Payment providers Mastercard and Visa have cut ties with the site after a New York Times investigation accused it of hosting child abuse and rape-related content. The move has left the site - one of the world's most popular - with cryptocurrency options like Bitcoin as the only way to pay for subscriptions.
Details of the suit are contained in a legal filing first reported by Vice. Girls Do Porn was a part of MindGeek's partner programmes until October , when the US Department of Justice effectively shut the porn producer down by arresting and charging its senior staff.
Pornhub and other MindGeek sites removed the Girls Do Porn channel as soon as the charges were made - but the complaint alleges that "at this point, there was no longer a company left for MindGeek to partner with". Victims had repeatedly contacted the company to complain and tell them about the problems, it says. The first court case on behalf of victims was lodged in June The complaint also says the videos have remained online even after the sex-trafficking charges were filed, with some visible as recently as 12 December.
The legal documents also lay out the historic claims of abuse against Girls Do Porn which were behind that company's senior staff being arrested. The site operated by advertising for modelling jobs, before telling the young women who applied that it was, in fact, for a pornographic adult video.
