Visa Loses Bid to Dismiss Pornhub Child-Abuse Lawsuit

Serena Fleites sued Visa and MindGeek, then the parent of Pornhub, after an explicit video recorded when she was 13 was uploaded to the site without her consent in 2014 and monetized across MindGeek’s network. The case tests whether a payment network can be held liable when it allegedly continues enabling transactions despite knowing that a merchant profits from child sexual abuse material.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney in California on July 29, 2022, denied part of Visa’s motion to dismiss, allowing Fleites’ claim of conspiracy to violate federal sex-trafficking law to proceed. The court dismissed a separate claim that Visa directly participated in the trafficking venture. The ruling kept the card network in the litigation but did not determine liability or award damages, leaving any monetary recovery unresolved.