GENEVA – The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has issued a press release in which two U.N. special rapporteurs, cited as experts, accuse Aylo and other companies of complicity in sexual exploitation.
The press release, posted on the OHCHR website, states that the two special rapporteurs, Ana Brian Nougrères and Reem Alsalem, have called for action against alleged “large-scale sexual exploitation of women and girls facilitated and monetized by Pornhub and its parent company Aylo Holdings, as well as the role of payment networks and search engines.”
The release quotes Nougrères and Alsalem as saying that there is an urgent need for countries “to impose binding measures on Pornhub and other digital platforms distributing pornography,” and reports that the pair have urged the U.S. and Canadian governments to “fully prosecute Aylo and require third-party age and consent verification for all user-generated pornography sites.”
Opinions ‘Not Necessarily’ Those of the UN
Nougrères is credited as special rapporteur on the right to privacy, and Alsalem as special rapporteur on violence against women and girls.
Special rapporteurs are not U.N. staff but are appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council. According to the OHCHR, they “serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organization.” The release also specifies that any views or opinions presented in it are “solely those of the author” and do not necessarily represent those of the U.N. or OHCHR.
An OHCHR media reaffirmed that while OHCHR supports the rapporteurs’ work, including facilitating media outreach and engagement, the rapporteurs remain “independent” in their functions.
“The positions and analysis reflected in the press products originate from the mandate holders themselves, in full respect of their independence,” the rep told XBIZ. “OHCHR distributes these press releases to ensure transparency and public awareness of mandate holders’ activities. Their publication does not constitute endorsement by OHCHR; the views and opinions expressed remain solely those of the mandate holders.”
Alsalem is an anti-sex-work and anti-pornography activist who has called pornography a “gross human rights violation” that should not be protected as free speech. In 2024, she authored a controversial report in which she conflated pornography with trafficking and rejected the term “sex work.” Sex worker rights advocates denounced the report as stigmatizing.
Behind the Times?
The release reports that Nougrères and Alsalem “stressed that businesses cannot evade responsibilities for being complicit in human rights violations and providing available tools to direct perpetrators,” and asserted that Aylo “cannot credibly dispute its longstanding conduct in globally distributing and monetizing the traumatic exploitation of victims on Pornhub.” However, those statements appear to reference MindGeek policies and practices in effect prior to the company’s 2023 acquisition by Ethical Capital Partners, which renamed it Aylo and embarked on a campaign of transparency.
Meanwhile, the measures Nougrères and Alsalem demand — such as verifying the ages of uploaders and performers, verifying performer consent, and enabling users to report and flag illegal content — are already in effect at Aylo, which has previously confirmed to XBIZ that all content on Pornhub has verified ID and consent for all performers, and that content that did not meet Pornhub standards was disabled and removed from the site.
The Free Speech Coalition condemned the rapporteurs' contentions as disingenuous and ignorant.
"The attack on adult platforms is ideological, not factual," the FSC statement reads. "This isn’t an honest effort to protect victims; it’s a pretext for punishing the legal, regulated industry that facilitates the autonomy and prosperity of sex workers."
"We’re appalled that the United Nations continues to platform and advance paternalist, pro-censorship policies that disenfranchise and imperil the lives of sex workers under the guise of fighting exploitation," the FSC statement adds. "FSC will continue to fight for policies grounded in evidence, dignity, and the actual voices of sex workers."
