Pornhub owner MindGeek sold to Ottawa private equity firm

The Pornhub website is shown on a computer screen in Toronto, Dec. 16, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS

MindGeek, the Montreal-based parent company of the controversial website Pornhub, has been acquired by a private equity firm.

Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), a newly-formed firm based in Ottawa, announced Thursday it is taking over the company that has faced criticism in recent years for allegedly hosting illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, on the world's largest porn site.

Members that make up the firm include investors, Ottawa-based criminal lawyers Solomon Friedman and Fady Mansour, and a retired chief superintendent with the RCMP, Derek Ogden. Its leadership team was in Montreal Thursday to announce the acquisition and to meet with MindGeek staff.

The terms of the deal are not being made public.

MindGeek, which was founded in Montreal in 2004, has a vast portfolio that also includes other pornographic properties, such as YouPorn, Redtube, Brazzers, Men.com, and Sean Cody.

ECP's website describes itself as a firm that seeks "investment and advisory opportunities in industries that require principled ethical leadership."

In a news release, it said it is committed to adult entertainment "made by and for consenting adults."

"With the support of ECP, MindGeek will further its research and adoption of the latest and best available online safety protocols to ensure that it remains a world-class leader in trust and safety and its platforms are inclusive, sex positive spaces for adults," the firm said in the release.

A spokesperson for the firm said its members were not available Thursday to comment on the acquisition.

The spotlight on the controversial porn site MindGeek's operations was brightened when a Dec. 4, 2020 New York Times exposé told the story of a minor whose nude videos were uploaded to Pornhub without her consent and allegedly remained there for some time despite repeated requests for the company to take them down.

Days after the story was published, MindGeek announced it was halting video uploads from unverified users.

Since then, several women have launched lawsuits alleging all kinds of illegal content being posted to the Pornhub.

Last November, a mother from Alabama launched a lawsuit against MindGeek after discovering the taped molestation of her 12-year-old son was posted to Pornhub. She alleged the site's owner ignored repeated requests from local police to remove it.

The man who molested her son, Rocky Shay Franklin, a 36-year-old resident of Greenville, AL, was sentenced to 40 years in prison last year after pleading guilty to two counts of the sexual exploitation and child pornography charges.

MindGeek has previously said in statements to CTV News that it has "zero tolerance for non-consensual content, child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and any other content that lack the consent of all parties depicted."

It also said it has a "comprehensive" team of human moderators that reviews each video upload.

The Mindgeek acquisition comes one day after Netflix released a documentary about Pornhub, in which a former content moderator alleged his team was not given enough time to properly review the hundreds of videos required per shift.

The takeover comes seven months after Visa and Mastercard cut ties with the advertising arm of Pornhub's owner over concerns about the content on its site.

Last June, MindGeek CEO Feras Antoon and COO David Tassillo announced they were stepping down, but said they'd remain as shareholders in the company.