Montreal-founded Aylo, which owns Pornhub and other adult sites, would pay an initial US$25 million into a fund, then instalments of US$15.8 million for six years, to children that appeared on its websites between early 2011 through late 2024, according to a redacted version of the settlement filed on Friday. The settlement could conclude a five-year court battle in Alabama and California. (Le Journal de Montréal, The Logic)

Talking point: The proposed settlement, which must still be finalized in sealed court proceedings, would also require Aylo to implement new content moderation rules and have them audited to ensure the company is hiring well-qualified moderators and verifying the identities of account holders and individuals depicted on its sites. When the complaint against Aylo, then known as MindGeek, was first launched in 2021, the company argued that it was protected from the allegations by a U.S. law called Section 230, which shields websites that host third-party content from being held to the same standard as publishers. Lawyers representing the minors said that millions of videos were removed from Aylo sites as a result of the case. Alex Kekesi, Aylo’s head of brand and community, said it has already implemented some of the content verification measures required in the settlement, which does not constitute an admission of any wrongdoing on Aylo’s part. 

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