‘Pornhub Tapes’ Group Continues Targeting TrafficJunky

MONTREAL—The group behind the so-called “Pornhub Tapes” has released new investigative videos alleging lapses in Aylo’s trust and safety protocols for moderating advertisements run through their highly valued TrafficJunky advertising network. AVN reported earlier in November that the group, a Project Veritas off-shoot called Sound Investigations, targeted TrafficJunky by alleging that they don't confirm the ages of models who appear in their advertisements.  One of the newer videos from the group, featuring a TrafficJunky software engineer and a customer service representative, alleges the advertising network profits off of non-consensual intimate imagery or revenge porn. It also alleges that TrafficJunky doesn't call the police if content is considered illegal, among other claims. In a statement to AVN, Aylo continues to refute the claims levied against the company by the undercover journalism group that has aligned itself with far-right media personalities, astroturf groups, and anti-pornography campaigns.  “The fact is, the very strict [trust and safety] and compliance rules and policies Aylo has in place extend to all its platforms, and all content and ads published on Aylo platforms must undergo compliance review and approval before going live,” an Aylo spokesperson said. This is the same response sent to Sound Investigations, which the group posts for only a few seconds at the very end of the new video dealing with TrafficJunky. To read the entire statement from the Aylo spokesperson, viewers have to pause the video.  The same video features an undercover Sound Investigations journalist calling into a customer support line. Unbeknownst to the customer support representative, the undercover journalist was recording the entirety of the phone call. Aylo said that the claims shared by the customer service representative, like that it is not the policy for TrafficJunky to call the police on behalf of clients, are additionally misleading.  “[L]ike many companies, our customer service operations are supplemented by third-party call centers, whose agents are trained to offer assistance with advertising spends, campaign operations, and technical issues,” explains the Aylo spokesperson.  “The third-party teams are not, nor should they be, expected to demonstrate expertise in our robust and complex trust and safety policies, which are instead explicitly laid out in our Trust and Safety Center on our website, and demonstrated fully in our actions, which have been applauded by experts and non-profit organizations around the globe,” the Aylo spokesperson added.  A prior video released by Sound Investigations featured a former compliance employee who criticized Aylo on similar grounds. AVN reported that TrafficJunky alleges to have the same trust and safety standards for videos.  TrafficJunky's rules explicitly state that "ads, landing pages, and member areas must be 2257 compliant." Additionally, "valid 2257s and ID must be provided upon request for models and actors/actresses.” "[TrafficJunky] has the right to refuse an ad, regardless of 2257s and IDs provided, if we still feel it negatively affects the user experience across our network of publisher sites," adds the policy. "Child pornography is strictly prohibited."  Another video released as a supplement during the week of Thanksgiving featured a senior scriptwriter who alleged that Aylo hired psychologists to “fool the banks” as it relates to financial regulation and auditing.  Financial discrimination has been a consistent issue for Pornhub and the community of content creators.  Researchers on the advisory council for Aylo last week released the “Pornhub Creators Consultations Report.” Maggie MacDonald and Val Webber found that financial discrimination from banks and major credit card processors has remained consistent and has impacted the incomes of several content creators. Sex Work CEO and the Free Speech Coalition also found that financial discrimination remains consistent. Visa and Mastercard have significantly limited or blocked transactions to platforms owned by Aylo and affiliated with Pornhub.  Aylo has reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline program for several years. The Aylo subsidiary responsible for managing Pornhub and its sister tube sites, Aylo Freesites, reported more than 2,000 cases of potential CSAM to the CyberTipline program in 2022. The company also participates in the StopNCII.org program. Sound Investigations has been pushing a pro-age verification position alleging that Aylo is against age-gating laws sweeping the United States. The company released a statement on its Pornhub blog that it supports device-based age verification mandates when the online adult entertainment industry is included in the process of defining what is an effective policy. However, thus far, this isn't happening.