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LOS ANGELES — A federal judge has dismissed several trafficking-related claims filed against Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, and credit card processor Visa, according to court orders issued Monday.
The case was brought by Serena Fleites, whose story was highlighted in Nicholas Kristof’s widely discussed New York Times opinion column “The Children of Pornhub.” In the piece, Kristof portrayed Fleites as emblematic of claims that the platform enabled illegal content, including child sexual abuse material. Fleites later disclosed that she had been victimized as a teenager and filed suit against Aylo and Visa.
The lawsuit is being heard by U.S. District Judge Wesley L. Hsu of the Central District of California. Fleites is represented by attorneys Michael Bowe and Lauren Tabaksblat of Brithem LLP, along with David Stein of Olson Sten LLP. Bowe, who previously defended former U.S. President Donald Trump and appeared in Netflix’s Money Shot: The Pornhub Story, co-founded Brithem LLP earlier this year as a boutique firm specializing in what it calls “impact litigation.”
Judge Hsu ruled that many of Fleites’ claims against Visa could not proceed. Her attorneys had sought to hold Visa liable for processing payments connected to Aylo’s platforms, then operating under the name MindGeek. However, Hsu dismissed most of these claims, finding insufficient evidence of active participation in trafficking-related conduct.
“Civil conspiracy with Aylo cannot be triggered solely by knowledge and inertia; it requires affirmative alignment with the venture’s unlawful purpose,” Hsu wrote. He added that there were “no allegations of internal Visa communications, decision-making, or admissions reflecting an understanding of MindGeek’s unlawful objectives,” noting instead that Visa appeared to have simply “continued a pre-existing business relationship in the face of controversy.”
While most claims against Visa were dismissed without prejudice, Hsu allowed parts of Fleites’ case against Aylo to continue. These include allegations tied to the Communications Decency Act and claims related to Aylo’s alleged role in the receipt, distribution, or transportation of exploitative material.
“While the court agrees that plaintiff’s pleadings as to MindGeek’s involvement in the videos as specific to her leave more to be desired,” Hsu wrote, “the court finds that these allegations paired with the general allegations found in the rest of the complaint … are sufficient at this stage of the litigation when all reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the plaintiff.”
Hsu also dismissed claims that Aylo violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA)through direct liability, but he allowed Fleites’ beneficiary liability claim to move forward. That provision of the law allows plaintiffs to pursue damages against entities that knowingly benefited from participation in a trafficking venture.
In addition, Hsu dismissed allegations of conspiracy between Visa and Aylo to violate the TVPRA.
A spokesperson for Aylo declined to comment beyond a short statement: “Out of respect for the integrity of court proceedings, our policy is not to comment on ongoing litigation. We look forward to the facts being fully and fairly aired in that forum.”
