| OnlyFans has become the latest iteration of the commercial sex industry—and its popularity is rapidly escalating. What is perhaps most concerning is that OnlyFans is even growing in popularity amongst children. Recent news highlights cases of minors creating and selling sexually explicit content of themselves on this platform, and in some cases being coerced to do so. Although OnlyFans claims to have robust and constantly improving age verification systems to prevent CSAM from being uploaded to the site, these systems have failed thus far. |
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| An update on John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 v. Twitter—the Plaintiffs’ brief opposing dismissal was filed this week. The brief addresses Twitter’s brazen claims that it should be held 100% immune for its conduct because of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, even if it is party to sex trafficking. “In CDA 230, Congress provided platforms like Twitter a safe harbor for good-faith removal—not bad-faith redistribution—of harmful material like obscenity and CSAM. Twitter believes it is above the law. It is not a passive observer. It was served notice that child sexual abuse material was circulating on its platform, and Twitter responded that it did not violate its policies. The compelling claims by these two courageous young men should be allowed to move forward.” ~ Peter Gentala, legal counsel for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center The Court has scheduled a hearing for July 30, 2021, to hear legal arguments from both sides on Twitter’s Motion to Dismiss. |
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| Pornhub has been allowed to make millions of dollars from the trauma of men, women, and children with impunity. While MindGeek and its executives rake in money, they enjoy the benefit of anonymity, privacy, and secrecy—all while survivors of sexual exploitation have to live knowing their worst moments are forever immortalized on the Internet. In a recent podcast, journalist Alexi Mostrous reveals the “Porn King”—Bernd Bergmair—who has secretly been made a very rich man all while hiding his identity from the world. The identity of the primary owner of MindGeek matters because, for so many survivors, until now there has been no face or name associated with the crimes against them. |
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