• Protestors gathered outside Pornhub's Montreal office to call out what they say is evidence that the site allowed abusive videos.
• Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek deny the allegations.
• Visit MTLBlog for more headlines.

A large group of protestors in Montreal, organized by American advocacy groups, Exodus Cry and Traffickinghub, accused Pornhub and its parent company MindGeek of being a "super predator" that's complicit in sex trafficking and child abuse. Gathered outside Pornhub's Montreal head office on boulevard Décarie on Sunday, protestors called for the complete shutdown of the multi-million dollar porn website. The protests gained steam after an opinion piece in The Washington Examiner accused Pornhub of streaming 58 videos of sexual abuse against a minor.

This article contains descriptions of sexual assault, which may trigger some readers. If you or someone you know has been the victim of sexual assault, call the Assaulted Women's Helpline at 1-866-863-0511 or find them online here. You can also contact the Support Services for Male Survivors of Sexual Assault at 1-866-887-0015 or online here. For a list of resources by province, go here.

The author of the piece, Laila Mickelwait, claimed that Pornhub "admitted to verifying the trafficked 15-year-old girl who was raped in 58 videos on its site." Mickelwait started a petition to shut down the website that has gained over 380,000 signatures. 

Pornhub denies the allegations, stating that it has "a steadfast commitment to eradicating and fighting any and all illegal content on the internet, including non-consensual content and under-age material. Any suggestion otherwise is categorically and factually inaccurate."

MindGeek, Pornhub's parent company, agrees that the allegations are false and tells MTL Blog that "we are disappointed that lies are being portrayed as fact, grossly misrepresenting MindGeek and its brands." 

MTL Blog also reached out to Mickelwait and Megan Walker, a protestor and the director of London, Ontario's abused women's shelter to find out more about the protest.

The accusations against Pornhub stem from Mickelwait's alleged discovery of child pornography on the website published by a Florida man who kidnapped a teenager from a 7-11 in 2019. 

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"Pornhub is facilitating child pornography and normalizing men’s violence against women resulting in sexual exploitation, trafficking torture and death," said Walker in a statement. 

She added that "based on the number of families that have reached out to Pornhub trying to remove the video footage of their children, it's very difficult to do that." 

Mickelwait, who first accused Pornhub of hosting child pornography, told MTL Blog that the company "has been profiting off enabling the sex trafficking of women and children." 

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She argues that Pornhub makes it too easy for content creators to get verified, which opens the door to sex traffickers.

An independent investigation by The Sunday Times in England found that Pornhub is "awash" in "creepshots" and videos of underage people performing sex acts. 

"Their system is set up for exploitation," Mickelwait asserts. 

"There is no opportunity for consent. Pornhub and other porn industry corporations do not ask for documentation of consent when these videos appear," added Walker. 

[rebelmouse-image 26886354 photo_credit="Teddy Elliot | MTL Blog" expand=1 original_size="4032x3024"] Teddy Elliot | MTL Blog

Mickelwait highlights that her organization isn't anti-sex or anti-porn. Instead, she argues, it's about holding Pornhub accountable for its actions.

In a statement, Pornhub argues that Exodus Cry, the group behind the protest against the website, "is promoted by a radical right-wing fundamentalist group in the United States — a group who’s founders have long vilified and attacked LGBTQ communities and women’s rights groups." 

Exodus Cry denies the accusation and stated that "we uphold the value that human rights stem from the inherent human dignity and value all humans possess, and we do not discriminate based on sex, race, class, political views, religious or non-religious views, or sexual orientations."

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media or MTL Blog.

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