A federal judge has dismissed a Pornhub lawsuit Utah case brought by two men who said they were exposed to pornography on the site as children and suffered lasting harm. The court found the plaintiffs did not establish that the Canadian company behind the platform could be sued in Utah.
U.S. District Judge David Barlow on Friday threw out class action claims against Aylo Global Entertainment, the Montreal-based owner of Pornhub, and affiliated entities. The plaintiffs, now in their early 20s, alleged the companies committed criminal child abuse by exposing a generation of minors to explicit material for profit, asserting product liability, negligence, and other claims.
Pornhub lawsuit Utah dismissed on jurisdiction grounds
Judge Barlow ruled the men did not plausibly plead jurisdiction in Utah. He wrote that citing Utah statutes without connecting them to concrete facts in the complaint was inadequate to establish jurisdiction under Masha’s Law, a federal statute that permits civil suits by victims of child sexual abuse material.
Barlow also concluded that operating a website accessible in Utah does not, by itself, create personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant. He said website operators must do more than passively maintain a site viewable in the forum state and that actions aimed at a forum must involve more than interactions with its residents. Accepting a looser standard, he noted, would undermine territorial limits on personal jurisdiction.
As a result, the court found the plaintiffs failed the minimum contacts test. Barlow said conclusory statements and cursory citations were not enough to meet their burden.
The dismissal was without prejudice, and the court did not reach whether Aylo was liable for the alleged injuries.
Claims and related litigation
The plaintiffs, identified by initials, argued Aylo substantially engaged with Utah residents through marketing, advertising, promoting subscription services, maintaining web traffic, and collecting user data. They described Pornhub and other platforms in Aylo’s network, including YouPorn, RedTube, and Tube8, as dominating a significant portion of the domestic and global online pornography market.
They also claimed the sites generate roughly half a billion dollars in annual revenue, with about half attributed to the United States. Separately, Aylo Freesites Ltd. is suing the State of Utah over an age verification law for adult websites enacted earlier this year.
Judge Barlow is presiding over that case as well, similar to how courts are reviewing other laws affecting minors online, such as the Virginia social media law for minors.
An attorney for Aylo Global Holdings’ counsel declined to comment. Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not respond to requests for comment, and representatives for the State of Utah did not immediately return inquiries.