Aylo, the Montreal-based company that owns Pornhub, has agreed to a proposed US$120 million settlement resolving a class action lawsuit brought by people who say the platform hosted sexual images and videos of them without consent, including material depicting child sexual abuse. The agreement, filed in U.S. federal court, would close out litigation that began in February 2021 and covers thousands of potential claimants across multiple related lawsuits.
This settlement is only part of the story. Aylo has also agreed to pay a separate $5 million penalty to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the state of Utah, and it will operate under a decade of federal oversight tied to how it verifies the age and consent of everyone appearing in content on its sites. Together, the two settlements amount to the largest financial and regulatory hit the company has taken since Pornhub purged more than 10 million unverified videos from its platform in December 2020.
Quick facts
- The $120 million figure is a proposed settlement, not a final judgment. It requires approval from a U.S. federal judge before any class member sees a payment, and objections or amendments could still change the terms.
- If you believe you appear in content uploaded to Pornhub or its sister sites without your consent, you may qualify as a class member. Watch for court-approved notice procedures rather than filing through informal channels, since claims administration will follow a formal process set by the court.
- The settlement runs parallel to, not instead of, the FTC and Utah enforcement action. Aylo’s $5 million penalty and 10-year compliance plan address systemic verification failures separately from individual victim compensation.
- Aylo’s ownership has changed since the alleged misconduct occurred. Ethical Capital Partners acquired the company from MindGeek in 2023, meaning victims and reporters alike need to distinguish between the entity accused of the conduct and the entity now paying to resolve it.
- Criminal exposure has not disappeared. The civil settlement resolves financial liability but does not shield individuals, including former MindGeek executives, from potential criminal referrals tied to the same underlying conduct.
What the $120 million settlement covers
The settlement resolves claims that Pornhub knowingly hosted, distributed, and profited from sexually explicit content uploaded without the consent of the people shown in it, including minors. According to court filings referenced in coverage of the deal, the proposed fund would compensate people whose images were uploaded, viewed, downloaded, or monetized on Pornhub and affiliated sites operated under the MindGeek and later Aylo names.
Origins in the February 2021 class action lawsuit
The case traces back to a class action filed in February 2021 on behalf of child sex trafficking victims whose abuse material allegedly appeared on Pornhub, according to background summarized by Wikipedia’s entry on Aylo. That filing came weeks after a New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof accused Pornhub of profiting from rape and child abuse videos, a piece credited with prompting Visa and Mastercard to cut payment processing ties with the site and forcing MindGeek’s December 2020 content purge.
Who qualifies as a class member
Class membership centers on anyone whose sexually explicit image or video appeared on Pornhub or related Aylo-owned platforms without their consent. That includes trafficking survivors, people whose intimate images were shared without permission, and individuals who were minors when the content was recorded or uploaded. The exact eligibility windows and documentation requirements will be spelled out once the court approves the settlement and a claims administrator issues formal notice, so treat any pre-approval claims solicitation with skepticism.
Inside the MindGeek-to-Aylo child abuse material case
MindGeek, the Montreal firm that built Pornhub into the dominant force in online adult video before rebranding as Aylo, is at the center of the litigation. The lawsuits allege the company’s moderation systems failed for years to catch uploads of non-consensual and underage content, even as the platform generated substantial ad and subscription revenue from traffic to that material.
How Pornhub allegedly hosted and profited from CSAM
Plaintiffs argue that Pornhub’s business model, built on high upload volume and minimal pre-screening, created conditions where child sexual abuse material could circulate for extended periods before removal. The February 2021 purge, which removed the vast majority of the site’s video library pending verification, is cited in filings as evidence that the company’s prior moderation standards fell short of what it was capable of enforcing once forced to act.
The Girls Do Porn and Serena Fleites allegations
Two threads run through the broader case record. One involves Girls Do Porn, a production company whose operators were convicted of sex trafficking after luring women into filming under false pretenses, with videos later uploaded to Pornhub. The other centers on Serena Fleites, whose case became a focal point of Kristof’s reporting after she said videos recorded of her at age 14 circulated on Pornhub for years despite repeated takedown requests. Both threads point to the plaintiffs’ core argument: that Pornhub’s verification and takedown systems lagged far behind the scale of harm being reported to the company directly.
Settlement terms and how victims get paid
The proposed $120 million fund will be distributed through a tiered claims process once the court grants preliminary approval. Exact payout amounts per claimant have not been finalized publicly, and they will likely depend on factors such as how long content remained online, how widely it was viewed or downloaded, and whether the claimant was a minor at the time of recording.
Compensation tiers and claims process
Settlement funds of this kind typically use a claims-made structure, where a court-appointed administrator reviews submissions against eligibility criteria before disbursing payment. Claimants should expect to provide documentation linking them to specific uploaded content, and a formal notice and claims period will follow preliminary court approval rather than beginning immediately upon the settlement’s announcement.
Content removal and verification reforms required
Beyond payment, the settlement is expected to require Aylo to maintain and strengthen the verification protocols it adopted after the 2020 purge, including confirming the age and consent of every performer before content goes live. These commitments overlap with, but are legally distinct from, the compliance obligations Aylo accepted in the FTC and Utah settlement described below.
The parallel FTC and Utah settlements
Separate from the class action, Aylo reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the state of Utah over charges that it failed to verify consent and age for content on Pornhub and other sites it operates, according to the FTC’s own announcement.
“This settlement should send a clear message that companies that profit from ignoring the safety of the people depicted in their content will be held accountable,” an FTC statement on the enforcement action said.
$5 million penalty and a decade of federal oversight
Aylo agreed to pay $5 million and submit to 10 years of monitoring under the FTC settlement, according to reporting on the penalty. That oversight period requires the company to document its age and consent verification processes and report on compliance, so federal regulators can check whether the reforms promised after 2020 are actually being enforced.
How the Utah case differs from the class action
The table below outlines how the two settlements diverge in purpose, amount, and who benefits.
| Feature | Class action settlement | FTC/Utah settlement |
|---|---|---|
| Amount | $120 million | $5 million |
| Who receives funds | Individual victims/class members | U.S. Treasury and state of Utah |
| Legal basis | Civil claims for damages | Regulatory enforcement action |
| Oversight period | Tied to claims administration only | 10 years of federal monitoring |
| Primary goal | Compensate identified victims | Force systemic verification reform |
The Utah settlement is punitive and regulatory, aimed at correcting company-wide practices, while the class action is compensatory, aimed at individual harm. Both stem from the same underlying allegations but move through entirely separate legal tracks.
Corporate fallout: from MindGeek to Aylo
The company facing these settlements is not operating under the name that existed when most of the alleged misconduct occurred. MindGeek rebranded as Aylo in 2023, following its acquisition by a private equity firm, a shift that makes it harder for the public to know who is actually accountable.
Ownership changes and Ethical Capital Partners
Ethical Capital Partners, a Canadian private equity firm, acquired MindGeek’s assets in 2023 and renamed the business Aylo. The firm has publicly framed the acquisition as a chance to overhaul trust and safety practices across the company’s platforms, presenting the settlements as proof of that effort rather than an admission about its own conduct.
Executive accountability and leadership changes
MindGeek’s founding executives, including former CEO Feras Antoon and former COO David Tassillo, departed the company amid the scrutiny that followed the 2020 Kristof column and subsequent lawsuits. Aylo’s current leadership was installed after the Ethical Capital Partners acquisition, meaning the executives who ran the company during the period covered by the lawsuits are no longer in charge of it. That distinction matters for readers trying to assess whether the settlement reflects genuine reform or simply a change of letterhead.
What happens next
The $120 million settlement is not final. A federal judge must grant preliminary approval, after which class members receive formal notice and an opportunity to file claims or object to the terms.
Court approval timeline
Settlements of this size typically take months to move from preliminary approval to final approval, with a fairness hearing scheduled in between to address any objections from class members. Expect the claims window to open only after preliminary approval, and payments to follow final approval, a process that can extend well beyond a year from the initial filing.
Ongoing litigation and criminal exposure risks
The civil settlement does not close the door on criminal liability. Individuals implicated in specific cases, including those tied to the Girls Do Porn trafficking operation, remain subject to separate criminal proceedings independent of Aylo’s corporate settlements. Additional civil suits from individuals who opt out of the class action, or whose claims fall outside its scope, also remain possible.
Frequently asked questions
What companies are owned by Aylo?
Aylo owns Pornhub along with other adult content and streaming platforms that were previously operated under the MindGeek name. The company describes itself as operating some of the internet’s largest adult entertainment platforms, though it has scaled back and restructured several brands since the 2023 rebrand.
Why was Pornhub banned in some states and countries?
Several U.S. states and countries have restricted or blocked access to Pornhub over age verification laws requiring platforms to confirm users are adults before granting access to explicit content. Rather than comply with certain state-level verification mandates, Aylo has opted to block access entirely in jurisdictions including Utah, Louisiana, and other states that passed similar legislation.
Who is the CEO of Aylo?
Aylo has not publicized a single global CEO name as prominently as MindGeek once did under Feras Antoon. Leadership now rests with the executive team installed by Ethical Capital Partners following the 2023 acquisition, after Antoon and former COO David Tassillo departed amid the scrutiny that preceded these settlements.
What is Aylo Premium Limited?
Aylo Premium Limited is one of the corporate entities within Aylo’s structure tied to its subscription and premium content services, part of the broader corporate reorganization that followed the MindGeek-to-Aylo rebrand.
How can victims file a claim in the settlement?
Victims should wait for court-approved notice and a formal claims process rather than responding to unsolicited claim requests. Once a judge grants preliminary approval, a claims administrator will publish eligibility criteria, documentation requirements, and deadlines, typically through a dedicated settlement website and direct notice to identified class members.
If you believe you may be part of this class, the safest next step is to monitor official court filings in the case rather than third-party claim forms, since scams targeting settlement claimants are common in cases of this size and visibility.