(Montreal) Montreal-based Pornhub is the target of a lawsuit in California by 40 women who claim the porn site continues to make money from videos that were posted without their full consent.
The lawsuit, filed in district court on Tuesday, alleges that MindGeek, the parent company of Pornhub, knew – or should have known – that one of its business partners routinely used fraud and coercion to push women to appear in porn videos.
The lawsuit alleges that MindGeek did not end its partnership with “GirlsDoPorn” until company officials were charged by US authorities in 2019.
The complainants also claim that websites owned by MindGeek did not remove the videos when requested.
The plaintiffs are claiming more than US $ 40 million in damages.
Although from a strict legal point of view, MindGeek’s head office is located in Luxembourg, its main offices are in Montreal. The company operates dozens of pornographic sites, including Pornhub, one of the most popular websites in the world.
MindGeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday afternoon.
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This article was produced with financial assistance from the Facebook and The Canadian Press News Scholarships.