More than 30 women have sued Pornhub, saying the website has profited from publishing videos of non-consensual sexual content.
The women accuse Pornhub's parent company, MindGeek, of violating federal sex trafficking laws, distributing child pornography and rackiteering, among other crimes, reports NBC News.
The lawsuit was filed by Brown Rudnick LLP on behalf of 34 alleged victims - including minors - of sexual exploitation, rape and human trafficking.
It's alleged the company purchased, laundered and uploaded illegal content often obtained through human trafficking and sexual assault, with the women saying they were "victimised first by their original abuser, and then repeatedly by the defendants in this case".
MindGeek, which owns over 1000 pornogrphic websites, production companies and brands, has denied the allegations.
"Pornhub has zero tolerance for illegal content and investigates any complaint or allegation made about content on our platforms," the company said in a statement, according to NBC News.
"The allegations in today's complaint that Pornhub is a criminal enterprise that traffics women and is run like The Sopranos are utterly absurd, completely reckless and categorically false."
Lawyers representing the alleged victims say they hope it will be a "watershed moment" for the online porn industry, which "simply hasn't been policed enough".
