Counsel representing Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, has requested a federal district judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed against the pornography company. Aylo, formerly known as MindGeek, is accused of knowingly publishing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) involving anonymous “Jane Doe” victims.

CSAM stands for Child Sexual Abuse Material. The standard definition applied defines CSAM as being “imagery or videos which show a person who is a child and engaged in or is depicted as being engaged in explicit sexual activity.”

The legal battle is currently unfolding before U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu of the Central District of California in Los Angeles. Attorneys for both the plaintiffs and the defendants are presenting their arguments to either keep the case alive or dismiss it entirely.

In November 2023, a federal district judge certified the class action case against Aylo and its affiliated companies, led by a lead anonymous Jane Doe plaintiff. The judge determined that the complex nature and costs associated with normal litigation dealing with traumatic circumstances made it suitable for federal class-action status.

The plaintiffs allege that Pornhub lacked safeguards to verify the age and consent of performers in such content at the time of Jane Doe’s image-based sexual abuse. Initiated in 2021, the lawsuit claims that Doe’s ex-boyfriend uploaded videos of them having sex when she was 16 to Pornhub, garnering over 30,000 views before the content was eventually removed.

Jane Doe also asserts that Pornhub turned a blind eye to CSAM on its sites to generate revenue and drive web traffic. Since December 2020, Pornhub and its parent company have undergone major restructuring and overhauls related to their trust and safety programs. In 2023, after being acquired by Ottawa-based private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners, Aylo engaged in further restructuring and rebranding.

However, these changes do not sway the plaintiffs. Counsel for Doe argued that Pornhub and its affiliated platforms are designed to encourage the publication and distribution of CSAM. The defendants, on the other hand, maintain that Aylo did not knowingly and intentionally engage in the commercialization of CSAM or online sex trafficking.

Michael Williams, an attorney for Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan representing Aylo, argued in a recent filing that there is no evidence the company added tags and terms like “young” or “teen” to videos. He stated that the use of such tags results from user input describing videos they publish on the platform. Williams also noted that Aylo had implemented a banned terms list on all its sites and adopted countermeasures to prevent searches for potentially illegal content.

Williams cited a 2022 case involving Reddit and online sex trafficking to support exiting the class action case. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld the dismissal of a federal lawsuit involving Reddit, where a Jane Doe alleged Reddit was liable but failed to show the social network knowingly participated in illegal activity.

Judge Hsu questioned the plaintiffs’ argument, referring to the safe harbor provision in Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act (CDA). Counsel for the plaintiffs argued that Section 230 does not protect Aylo in this case. However, Hsu noted that he could not allow a civil jury to issue a “grade” to Aylo/MindGeek’s actions in preventing CSAM and illegal materials on its sites.

Ultimately, the defense argues that Aylo has demonstrated efforts to prevent CSAM and unlawful materials. Judge Hsu has yet to rule on Williams’ argument, according to Law360.com.

The truth is, nobody in the mainstream adult industry wants anything to do with children. We all go out of our way to check IDs and make sure everyone involved consents and is of legal age.

Websites like Pornhub are taking the step to block the known terms, if a big step in the right direction to further emphasize the fact that in legitime porn production, nobody wants anything to do with anyone under 18 years of age.