This is part two of a two-part series about the recent settlement between the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Utah Consumer Protection Division (CPD), and Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub. The order (which has now been approved by a federal court) settled allegations that Aylo let child sex abuse material (CSAM) and non-consensual intimate imagery (NCII) such as revenge porn and rape videos run rampant on Pornhub and other adult sites under Aylo’s umbrella.
Reducing the incidence of such abysmal content online is certainly a good thing. However, as part one explained, the way the FTC went about it is ultimately self-defeating. Plus, as this post will explain, fighting CSAM and NCII is only the surface goal of the Aylo settlement. Make no mistake: The FTC’s and Utah’s real agenda here is to attack free speech on the Internet – legal speech that, unlike CSAM, is protected by the Constitution – under the guise of “protecting consumers.”
This investigation was initiated under the Biden FTC, but it concluded under Trump’s FTC, and it must be understood in that context: as part of a larger right-wing effort to ban even legal, constitutionally-protected pornography and to control what Americans say and read online.
- Date Published:9.16.2025
- Original Publication: Techdirt