From Laila Mickelwait:
On Friday, I had the privilege of being invited as a witness to testify in a Canadian parliamentary hearing as part of an important investigation into MindGeek’s complicity in mass sexual crime.
This is significant because MindGeek (parent company of Pornhub) has its main headquarters in Montreal and two of its owners reside in Canada.
The investigation is being conducted by Canada’s Ethics Committee and they’ve been gathering evidence and testimonies for the last few weeks from victims and experts.
On February 5, for the first time ever, the executives of Pornhub were forced out of the shadows to appear before the committee for questioning.
The day before I was scheduled to speak, these executives tried to silence me because they were afraid of my testimony. The CEO and COO of MindGeek sent a personal letter to the committee slandering me and asking the committee not to allow me to speak.
The Members of Parliament said it was the first time someone under investigation tried to attack and discredit a witness. They were shocked but not deterred.
MindGeek’s attempts failed miserably.
I was able to present the stories of many victims who personally reached out to me, expose the lies that CEO Feras Antoon and COO David Tassillo displayed in their testimony, and offer practical solutions for uprooting exploitation on porn tube sites like Pornhub.
You can click below to watch highlights from my testimony on Instagram.
Or, watch my full testimony here.
What an honor it was to represent the Traffickinghub movement—which you are a crucial part of—before Canadian lawmakers.
Pornhub and MindGeek are closer to being criminally charged than they’ve ever been.
Until we prevail,
Laila Mickelwait and the Traffickinghub Team
P.S. To help fuel the continued fight to bring this predatory company to justice and provide specialized trauma therapy for its victims, you can give here.