A US court has allowed a lawsuit against Visa to go ahead that alleged that the financial services company helped monetise sexual videos involving children on Pornhub, owned by porn site operator MindGeek.
Judge Cormac Carney in California issued the ruling, rejecting Visa's attempts to dismiss its portion of the suit, reports The Verge.
The lawsuit alleged that Visa plausibly "intended to help MindGeek monetize child porn" because it continued to offer payment processing services to Pornhub "despite knowing the site had failed to moderate videos of minors".
In a statement to Variety, Visa said it "will not tolerate the use of our network for illegal activity", but "we continue to believe that Visa is an improper defendant in this case".
According to the plaintiff, "Visa recognised MindGeek as an authorised merchant and processed payments to its websites including but not limited to Pornhub".
The lawsuit said that Visa knew MindGeek's sites contained a substantial amount of child porn and that MindGeek failed to police its sites for such content.
Nonetheless, "Visa and its agent banks explicitly agreed with MindGeek to continue to process transactions without restrictions on all MindGeek sites provided MindGeek maintained pretextual window dressing claims that it had technology, processes, and policies in place to prevent such content".
Visa was "aware of MindGeek's trafficking venture and explicitly agreed with MindGeek to process the financial transactions from which the defendants profited from the venture".
The lawsuit asserted that MindGeek, Visa and others violated a series of laws including the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and the California Unfair Competition Law (UCL).
"Visa lent to MindGeek a much-needed tool -- its payment network -- with the alleged knowledge that there was a wealth of monetised child porn on MindGeek's websites," wrote Carney.
Air India Express strike: Air India to operate on AIX 20 routes
The Tata-owned Air India will operate 20 Air India Express (AIX) routes to help the latter amid an ongoing strike by cabin crew members, said an airline official on Thursday.
Tripura CM urges Railway Minister to resume train services hit by landslides in Assam
“The Chief Minister is personally monitoring the situation. He has asked the state officials to maintain close contact with the NFR engineers and officials to know the progress of the ongoing work,” an official said.
CCTV pictures of suspected terrorists behind Poonch attack surface
In the attack on the two-vehicle IAF convoy at Surankote tehsil in Poonch district, one air warrior named Corporal Vikky Pahade was killed, while four other IAF personnel were injured.
CMs of northeastern states slam Sam Pitroda's colour of citizens' remark, demand apology
Several Chief Ministers and leaders from the northeastern states condemned Congress leader Sam Pitroda's remark on the 'colour of citizens' and demanded his apology.
Students, faculties of BTVM observes Rabindra Jayanti
The Bhavan's Tripura Vidya Mandir on Wednesday observed Rabindra Jayanti in remembrance of world poet Rabindranath Tagore's birthday, where students and faculties of both the shifts participated.
Rajasthan resident held in state with cannabis worth Rs 1 lakh
A joint operation by the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) recovered 25 kg of ganja from Agartala railway station and arrested one person hailing from Rajasthan.
CM to campaign for BJP candidates in West Bengal on May 09
Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha is set to actively participate in campaigning on May 09 for BJP candidates in the Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, as confirmed by party sources today.
Congress wants to snatch reservation from backward classes and give it to Muslims: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday alleged that the Congress wants to bring a legislation to snatch reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Backward Classes (BCs) and give them to Muslims.