Why did a crime fighting charity partner with a criminal enterprise?
In April last year we discovered that Crime Stoppers International had entered into a commercial partnership with the criminal enterprise Pornhub through its parent company and private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners/Aylo.
That's right, the very same porn-hosting platform notorious for hosting rape videos, child abuse, whose parent company has been criminally charged by the U.S. Government for “knowingly” profiting from sex trafficking crime scenes. The same company facing 25 lawsuits filed since 2020 on behalf of almost 300 victims including multiple class actions representing tens of thousands of child victims.
Pornhub has quite literally shattered the lives of countless victims around the globe.
CSI entered into the relationship to conduct an "audit" of the company.
How could a global organisation (and charity) established to fight crime through anonymous tip offs, sully its good name and essentially benefit from the proceeds of crime?
At the time, South Australia Police condemned the decision, saying it harmed their reputation and credibility. They pulled out of their partnership with Crime Stoppers SA. We commended them for doing so. It seemed CSI preferred to lose a significant global partner than Pornhub's money. Australian actress Madeleine West also resigned from the CSI Board in protest.
Since then, we met with Canberra-based CSI head Shane Britten and engaged in an email exchange over a number of months. We provided him all we knew about Pornhub, involving our close global partner and collaborator Laila Mickelwait, who spearheaded the global campaign against Pornhub and authored 'Takedown: Inside the Fight to Shut Down Pornhub for Child Abuse, Rape, and Sex Trafficking' (Thesis, 2024).
We wanted to know how much the Ethical Capital Partners/Crime Stoppers deal was worth. We pointed out the damage done to CSI's good name by using the proceeds from the monetization of victim's trauma and conveyed our opinion that this was a classic example of 'reputation laundering' - a desperate attempt to improve reputation and obscure their history. As Laila Mickelwait told Britten (July 13, 2024):
"Aylo/Pornhub has already been using this 'working relationship' with Crime Stoppers as a PR move to try to whitewash their toxic reputation as a criminal organization and deflect from the lawsuits they are facing on behalf of victims worldwide."
In three separate emails in response to questions asked by our Movement Director Melinda Tankard Reist, Mr Britten undertook to provide us with a copy of the report.
April 26, 2024
June 11, 2024
"The scope, method and outcomes of our audit will be made publicly available."
January 8, 2025
"We’ve been hard at work on the audit and resulting report, which should be finalised soon. We don’t have a specific date, but it will be shared publicly when complete. I’ll be pleased to share a copy with you when it is finalised and published."
On attempting to find out what had become of the report (which was due to be finalised last August), MTR was informed by Britten on Monday May 26 that the report had been finalised earlier this year and provided to Aylo but that CSI was "bound by a confidentiality clause" and could not release it.
Which of course makes us wonder - what's in it that meant CSI couldn't make it available as promised?
Watch this space...
Collective Shout quoted in Canadian media this week
'Crime Stoppers isn't publishing its report into child sexual abuse on Pornhub'
Martin Patriquin, Logic Media, May 27, 2025
The non-profit pledged to make public its report into the trust and safety processes at Pornhub parent company Aylo. It now says a confidentiality clause is preventing it from releasing its findings.
CSI has reneged on a pledge to make public its report on how the Canadian company behind Pornhub keeps child sexual abuse and other illegal material from appearing on its platforms. In March 2024, Netherlands-based Crime Stoppers International (CSI) said it was reviewing Pornhub owner Aylo's trust and safety processes, which are designed to keep child sexual abuse material, non-consensual images and revenge porn from appearing on its platforms. CSI promised to make its findings and recommendations public. "Crime Stoppers International's dedication to transparency is unwavering," the company said at the time....
CSI repeatedly promised to make the report public, according to correspondence between CSI and Australian non-profit Collective Shout, based on documents seen by The Logic. "When we complete our review, we will make the report publicly available. We strongly believe this is in the best interests of the global communities we serve," Britten wrote to Collective Shout co-founder Melinda Tankard Reist in April 2024...
Reist claimed CSI appeared out of its depth in initial conversations about the audit of Pornhub in 2024 and was unaware of the scope of the charges against Aylo...'
Full article here.
See also
Collective Shout joins global campaign to 'Dismantle Pornhub' - Updated: WIN! Roku bans porn sites
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