It's become abundantly clear that government attacks on pornography are often flimsy pretenses for grabbing more control of the internet broadly. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Utah last week reminded us that such attacks can also be good old-fashioned money grabs, too.
The FTC is proposing that Aylo, the company behind Pornhub and other popular porn distribution platforms, be ordered to pay the state of Utah $5 million. In a new complaint filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, it accuses Aylo of violating the FTC Act and Utah's Consumer Sales Practices Act by failing to stop Pornhub users from uploading what the FTC calls "non-consensual material" (NCM) and "child sexual abuse material" (CSAM).
