Woman seeks new suit against MindGeek

MONTREAL• An Ontario woman has asked a Quebec court to authorize a classaction lawsuit against Montreal-founded tech company MindGeek, alleging the company’s websites hosted videos of her being sexually abused as a child.

Filed in Quebec Superior Court on Dec. 29, 2020, the application targets five entities of MindGeek, which owns some of the world’s most popular pornography sites, including Pornhub. The claim alleges that the company — now headquartered in Luxembourg but with a large workforce still in Montreal — committed defamation, copyright infringement, negligence, unjust enrichment, fraud, and otherwise breached its duties “to securely and responsibly ensure that images and videos are posted with consent.”

It seeks $500 million in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages, and $100 million in punitive damages, for those affected by the behaviour the claim alleges. “We believe there are thousands of people who have been affected by this,” said lawyer Louis Sokolov with the Ontario firm Sotos.

The applicant, an Ontario resident referred to as Jane Doe, alleges that a video of her abuse, recorded when she was approximately 12 years old, was published on Pornhub and other MindGeek sites. She became aware of the video in January 2020, when she saw a message from a male acquaintance sent several months prior, with a link to the video. According to the application, Doe filed out a takedown request with the company, though she only received an automated response.

It’s the second recent legal claim against MindGeek. In December 2020, a group of 40 women, including three Canadians, filed a lawsuit against in a California court, saying the company made millions from sex videos published on the site without their consent.

Quebec is considered a plaintiff-friendly jurisdiction in which to file a class-action lawsuit. Sokolov told The Logic that since filing, he’s been contacted by a number of people who said they’d had material posted without their consent on Pornhub and other MindGeek sites.

The various claims have not been proven in court.