California, June 19: Nearly three dozen women have sued porn website Pornhub accusing it and its parent company MindGeek of knowingly profiting from videos of rape, child porn, sex trafficking and other nonconsensual activities. The lawsuit against Pornhub and MindGeek has been filed in California by 34 women. The plaintiffs described MindGeek as "one of the largest human trafficking ventures in the world" and alleges it operates "just like the Sopranos", referring to a HBO show about the Mafia. XXX Website Pornhub.com's Parent Company MindGeek, Sued by Child Trafficking Survivors.

"Plaintiffs in this case are … human beings victimized first by their original abuser, and then repeatedly by the defendants in this case," the lawsuit says. One of the plaintiffs is a resident of California who says she is a victim of child sex trafficking. Other plaintiffs chose to remain anonymous. "The case is not about consensual porn or negligence. It's about a porn company’s intentional election to include in their business model rape and other nonconsensual content," Michael Bowe, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told The Washington PostPornHub.com Used AI to Restore the Oldest Erotic Films in 4K as a Part of Their New Launch 'Remastured' (Watch Campaign Video).

Speaking to NBC News, Pornhub denied the allegations, adding that it has zero tolerance towards illegal content. "The allegations in today’s complaint that Pornhub is a criminal enterprise that traffics women and is run like ‘The Sopranos’ are utterly absurd, completely reckless and categorically false," the adult entertainment website said. It further claims the website has "the most comprehensive safeguards in user-generated platform history".

This is not the first time such allegations have been made against Pornhub. Last year, a New York Times report exposed how nonconsensual videos, often involving underage girls, are being posted on Pornhub. After the report, Pornhub announced to tweak its content policies regarding uploads and downloads and removed millions of unverified videos.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 19, 2021 11:24 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).