A major settlement was just announced between Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection.
Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, faces a significant $5 million penalty as part of a proposed settlement with the FTC and the Utah Division of Consumer Protection. The agreement, which also mandates a complete overhaul of Aylo’s content moderation policies, addresses allegations of deceptive marketing and failures to prevent harmful content on their platforms.
This case highlights the growing regulatory pressure on online platforms to ensure user safety and be truthful in their marketing. The settlement stems from a legal complaint accusing Aylo of misleading the public about the safety of its websites, specifically regarding the presence of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual material (NCM).
The Core of the Complaint: Deceptive Marketing Practices
As a legal matter, the filed legal complaint focuses on consumer protection and deceptive communication. The FTC and Utah allege in their complaint that Aylo “engaged in a public campaign of deception, repeatedly telling consumers—in the press, in blog posts, and in policy statements—that they take serious steps to keep CSAM and NCM off their websites.”
Aylo systematically deceived consumers into believing that their websites were free from child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and non-consensual material (NCM), when Aylo knew that their sites hosted a significant volume of both categories for years, according to the complaint.
The complaint explains that “the viewing or possession of CSAM exposes one to civil and criminal liability in the United States. Thus, Defendants’ exposure of consumers to CSAM and NCM, especially when Defendants misrepresent that such content does not exist on their websites, induces consumers to unknowingly engage in potentially unlawful conduct.”
The complaint continues, “even beyond the legal liability aspect, Defendants’ own marketing promises consumers that their websites would not carry such content, further establishing this content’s undesirability for the broader market. Exposing consumers to such content is also likely to cause them trauma and emotional distress.”
WATCH: Pornhub Exposed as #Traffickinghub
Scale of Abusive Content and Failed Moderation
While the legal basis for the action was consumer protection, the details of the complaint paint a grim picture of Aylo’s indifference toward abusive content. The investigation revealed that the company not only failed to remove harmful videos but, in some cases, actively promoted them.
Key findings from the complaint include:
- Promotion of Harmful Tags: Aylo allegedly encouraged users to upload content with tags suggesting CSAM and NCM. The company then organized this content into playlists with titles like “less than 18” and “under-age,” promoting them on their websites.
- The “GirlsDoPorn” Case: The complaint highlighted Pornhub’s relationship with “GirlsDoPorn,” a site that uploaded videos of women who were falsely promised the recordings would remain private. Pornhub hosted a channel for this content, optimizing titles and tags to attract traffic and earning approximately $350,000 in referral fees.
- Insufficient Remediation: Even after the owners of GirlsDoPorn were criminally indicted for sex trafficking in October 2019, Aylo’s response was inadequate. While the official channels were removed, content that had been downloaded and re-uploaded by other users remained on the platform.
These examples undermine any claim that consumers were not being exposed to harmful material or that the company was unaware of the problem.
The Terms of the FTC Settlement
To resolve the allegations, Aylo has agreed to a settlement with stringent requirements designed to reform its content moderation and business practices.
Financial Penalties and Future Compliance
As part of the proposed settlement, Aylo will:
- Pay a $5 million fine to the state of Utah. This money is slated for a “consumer protection education fund,” according to Margaret Busse, Executive Director at the Utah Department of Commerce.
- Face an additional $10 million suspended fine, which will be enforced if Aylo fails to comply with the settlement’s terms.
READ: Traffickinghub: A Timeline of Pornhub’s Rapid Decline
Overhauling CSAM Content Moderation
The agreement forces Aylo to implement concrete, verifiable changes to its safety protocols. Chris Murfarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, stated that Pornhub’s operators must “take concrete steps to block this harmful content and ensure that those who appear in videos on their sites are consenting adults.”
Key requirements include:
- Developing Written Policies: Aylo must create and maintain clear procedures to prevent the distribution of CSAM and NCM.
- Appointing a Compliance Officer: A designated employee, reporting directly to the CEO, will be responsible for overseeing the content safety program.
- Regular Risk Assessments: The company must conduct and document a comprehensive risk assessment every 12 months to identify potential failures in its system.
- Implementing Safeguards: Aylo is required to verify that all models are at least 18 years old and have consented to both the sexual conduct and its publication.
- Annual Partner Audits: Every content partner must be audited annually to ensure compliance with these new safety standards.
The proposed settlement must still be approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah before it becomes final.
The #Traffickinghub Legacy Continues
This case serves as a major step in holding large online platforms accountable for their content moderation failures and deceptive marketing practices. But this moment is much bigger than that. It’s a victory years in the making, fueled by a powerful grassroots movement that refused to stay silent.
This development is a direct result of the #Traffickinghub campaign, a movement championed by organizations like Exodus Cry and millions of individuals who demanded accountability for a mainstream porn platform enabling, distributing and profiting from rape, child abuse, sex trafficking and criminal image based sexual abuse.