The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), alongside Utah authorities, are ordering the owner of Pornhub to pay a $5 million penalty after it continues to show child abuse videos to its users.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Utah filed a stipulated order for permanent injunction last week against Aylo, Pornhub's parent company. The order states that Aylo must enforce better policies regarding illicit content on the website, including child sexual abuse of any underage person in videos, as well as any nonconsensual material.
They have been ordered to pay $5 million to Utah and to cease the publication and dissemination of such materials. They must also have their prevention efforts periodically reviewed by a third party, receive an annual certification on prevention, and improve their privacy security.
"Pornhub's operators turned a blind eye to the proliferation of videos depicting the sexual abuse of children on its sites so it could profit off this exploitation," said Christopher Mufarrige, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement released last week.
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"Under the order we're announcing today, Pornhub's operators will be required to take concrete steps to block this harmful content and ensure that those who appear in videos on their sites are consenting adults."
In 2023, Aylo admitted in federal court that the company had profited from sex trafficking. After, they agreed to a three-year monitoring period as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. Justice Department. The order came from the monitoring of their privacy settings.
"This FTC action represents more than just accountability for one company," says the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. "It sends a powerful message to the entire pornography industry that exploitation will not be tolerated, and it validates the experiences of every survivor who has been told their story doesn't matter."
NCOSE has long been suspicious of Pornhub's content when it comes to keeping underage children on either side of the screen from accessing their content.
"Most importantly, this victory proves that when we stand together, we can take on billion-dollar industries that profit from exploitation, and win."
Aylo shared a statement with The Guardian saying they were committed to keeping children under 18 safe.
"We will always comply with the law," stated Aylo. "We believe that the real solution for protecting minors and adults alike is to verify users' ages at the point of access — the users' devices — and for websites to deny or permit access to age-restricted materials based on that verification."