DOJ-approved watchdog begins policing Pornhub

The monitoring is part of a deferred prosecution agreement between Aylo and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, who charged the company with money laundering in December.

As part of that settlement, Aylo — formerly of MindGeek — admitted to profiting from videos produced by the sex-trafficking group Girls Do Porn. In addition to agreeing to independent monitoring, Aylo officials paid a $1.8 million fine and agreed to additional undisclosed payments to victims whose images appeared on the company’s platforms.

So far, five Girls Do Porn employees have pleaded guilty in San Diego to federal sex trafficking charges. Accused Girls Do Porn mastermind Michael James Pratt was extradited to California from Spain in March. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting a possible trial.

Aylo is owned by Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners. Two officials, partner Solomon Friedman and spokeswoman Sarah Bain, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bain previously told Business Insider that Aylo has taken significant steps to keep illegal content off the site, including through increased human monitoring and the use of AI technologies that can identify possible child sexual abuse images.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn declined to comment on the surveillance.