WASHINGTON, DC (December 20, 2024) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) celebrates the recent victory in the class action lawsuit against Pornhub (Doe v. MG Freesites LTD et al). In an Order issued on Thursday the Federal Court in Alabama denied Pornhub’s motion for summary judgment and ruled that the pornography giant must face trial on claims of sex trafficking and possessing, creating, and distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The Court rejected Pornhub’s latest effort to escape accountability by asserting Section 230 immunity. This ruling means the Plaintiff, who was exploited as a child on the Pornhub website, and the class of children she represents, will have their day in court.
In the ruling the judge wrote, “CSAM, by contrast, is itself a violent crime, a record of that crime, and contraband—not information. Accordingly, this Court again finds that Section 230(c) of the CDA does not immunize Defendants from Plaintiff’s claim that they violated the child pornography statues.” (pg. 35)
“This significant ruling is a victory for the brave Survivor-Plaintiff as it ensures Pornhub cannot use Section 230 as a legal shield and must face accountability for profiting from her child sexual abuse. Further, the Court rightly points out that the case record reflects, ‘numerous instances of Defendants’ employees discussing amongst themselves the CSAM they encountered live on [Pornhub]’ and that ‘Defendants use their algorithm not only to help users looking for CSAM find it but to help users advertising CSAM to advertise it.’ We will continue to fight for justice on behalf of our client and all minors exploited on Pornhub,” said Dani Pinter, Senior Vice President and Director of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center, one of several firms representing the plaintiff.
Plaintiff Jane Doe #1 was just 16 years old when she was drugged and raped by a man in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The child sexual abuse and rape of Jane Doe #1 was filmed. That same man entered into an agreement with MindGeek to share profits from views and downloads of Jane Doe #1’s victimization on MindGeek’s websites. MindGeek reviewed, categorized, tagged, and disseminated the images and videos depicting the rape and sexual exploitation of sixteen-year-old Jane Doe #1.
At no time did MindGeek or Pornhub attempt to verify Jane Doe #1’s identity, age, inquire about her status as a victim of trafficking, or otherwise protect or warn against her traffickers before or while the video of her being drugged and raped was sold, downloaded, viewed and otherwise advertised on Pornhub.
The plaintiff is suing MindGeek for financially benefiting from her abuse, which violates the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, among other laws.
The legal team representing Jane Doe includes: The Zarzaur Law Firm of Birmingham, Alabama; Prince Glover Hayes, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Levin, Papantonio, Proctor, Buchanan, O’Brien, Barr & Mougey, P.A. of Pensacola, Florida; Laffey Bucci D’Andrea, Reich & Ryan, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Clark Hill, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, of Washington D.C.
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center offers survivors of pornography-related abuse a way to seek justice. More information can be found at: https://sexualexploitationlawsuits.com.
About National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE)
Founded in 1962, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) is the leading national non-partisan organization exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation such as child sexual abuse, prostitution, sex trafficking and the public health harms of pornography. https://endsexualexploitation.org/
