Pornhub was slapped with a U.S. lawsuit the same day a Canadian parliamentary committee recommended stronger law enforcement for porn sites..On Thursday, Brown Rudnick LLP filed a landmark civil complaint in the Central District of California against Pornhub and RedTube’s parent company, MindGeek on behalf of 34 individual plaintiffs..The lawsuit alleges exploitation and monetization of child pornography, rape videos, trafficked content, stolen content, and other non-consensual content..The plaintiffs, some of whom are Canadian, are suing as individuals, not in a class action. The suit contains the first RICO (Racketeer influenced Corrupt Organization) allegations made against an online porn company. It claims that MindGeek, a company with offices in Montreal, is a criminal enterprise engaged in financial crimes and human trafficking. Visa is also named in the suit under allegations it serviced MindGeek’s sites despite being aware of exploitation..“There is no amount of money that can undo what these individuals have been through, but with this suit we hope to enact industry-wide change and ensure the proper regulations are put in place so no man, woman or child can be exploited, trafficked, profited off of or abused without consequence,” said Brown Rudnick LLP Attorney Michael Bowe..The complaint is the product of more than a year of in-depth investigation into MindGeek’s operations, organization and structure. This suit alleges the company aggressively tried to intimidate, discredit, and shame victims and advocates, and also includes allegations of:.illegal financial schemes (including tax evasion, money laundering and credit card fraud)intentional embrace of illegal content (including mass copyright piracy and use of illegal non-consensual content) to maximize search engine optimization and advertising revenuesactive exploitation of abusive material by avoiding moderationmasking of illegal contentstonewalling of victimspromoting of exploitative material to users via AI algorithms..Also Thursday, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics tabled a report entitled Ensuring the Protection of Privacy and Reputation on Platforms Such As Pornhub. The report makes 14 recommendations for the government to prevent the proliferation of non-consensual pornographic content online, including child porn..A key recommendation is that content-hosting platforms operating in Canada require everyone depicted in the content to affirm they are at least 18 years old and consent to distribution prior to the video upload..Other recommendations include more resources for the National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre to investigate the increased referrals of child sexual abuse materials; that the law allow more time to commence prosecution for an offence; and for a way to be made for Canadians to get online images or videos posted without their consent to be removed immediately upon request..“The allegations against Pornhub are sobering and horrific. The witness testimony of young people’s lives being destroyed by non-consensual intimate videos and child sexual abuse material being shared on online platforms was sobering,” said Committee Chair and Alberta MP Chris Warkentin, in a committee press release,.“The government must ensure that Canadian laws are being enforced and existing tools are used to ensure more lives are not destroyed. The government must also pass legislation to make it perfectly clear that Canadian companies have a responsibility [to] provide a proactive duty of care for our most vulnerable and be held accountable when they contribute to the victimization of vulnerable women and minors.”.In the same release, Vice-Chair Brenda Shanahan gave her party a pat on the back..“As Liberal Vice-Chair, I am proud that the motion proposed by one of our Liberal members allowed us to conduct this important study of a topic of deep concern to Canadians.”.NDP Committee member Charlie Angus wants action, not more talk, from the Trudeau government..“We are calling on the government and police to rethink their unwillingness to apply Canadian law in the digital realm,” Angus said..Harding is a Western Standard correspondent based in Saskatchewan
