Pornhub’s Parent Company Admits to Profiting From Sex Trafficking
New York TimesDec 23, 2023
Pornhub Parent Company Admits to Profiting From Sex Trafficking
Image copyright: Flickr [via Wikimedia Commons]
The Facts
Aylo Holdings S.A.R.L., which operates Pornhub and other adult websites, admitted in federal court Thursday to profiting from content depicting sex trafficking victims for years. Under a deal — known as a deferred prosecution agreement — Aylo will pay a $1.8M fine and pay damages to the victims.
In addition, Aylo will be appointed an independent monitor for three years, after which the charges will be dropped.
The Spin
Right narrative
For the sake of its consumers and producers, porn should be banned to the greatest extent possible. New York City, in 1994, understood Times Square was the public square, and proceeded to kick out porn theaters. Today, the internet is the public square, and there’s no reason this content should be so widely available. There’s no benefit to society when children as young as 11 can access this material.
Left narrative
Cracking down on the dangerous and illegal aspects of the porn industry is important. However, calling for entire bans on adult content would be implausible, given the amount of content already online. It would also criminalize sex workers by imposing a legal moral code on them. Instead, it would be more effective to include porn as a topic in sex health curricula and establish more workers’ rights within the industry.