Three separate shareholder claims against Visa, aiming to hold the company responsible for alleged monetization of user-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on MindGeek tube websites, have been consolidated by a Delaware Chancery Court. The decision, made by Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster, seeks to prevent unnecessary costs or delays in investigating Visa's dealings with MindGeek SARL and its affiliates.

Shareholder Allegations and Legal Basis

Lawyers representing three Visa investors, including a government union in Hollywood, Florida, requested the consolidation of their individual lawsuits, which were filed between January 19 and March 13. Vice Chancellor Laster's consolidation order noted that the suits have the "prospective to involve numerous common concerns of fact and also regulation."

All three plaintiffs assert that Visa did not grant them access to books and documents to investigate the issue. Attorneys for the Operating Engineers Construction Industry and Miscellaneous Pension Fund stated that there are "serious and facially credible claims that Visa's officers and directors failed to do appropriate due diligence, as well as either recognized or need to have recognized of, yet continued to facilitate, MindGeek's potentially criminal activity involving child pornography."

Attorneys for the Hollywood Police Administration's Retirement System cited "numerous reasons to presume misconduct, including payment vendor PayPal's withdrawal from servicing business while Visa continued, in addition to problems and news reports."

Prior Legal Actions and Dismissals

The consolidation of these shareholder claims follows previous legal actions involving MindGeek and Visa. In June 2021, 34 women who claimed to be victims of Pornhub filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against MindGeek, its owners and executives, and Visa, which processes payments for the porn site. The complaint, written by Mike Bowe, a partner at Brown Rudnick, alleged that MindGeek is a "classic criminal enterprise" and "one of the largest human trafficking ventures in the world," and "likely the largest non-regulatory repository of child pornography in North America." It further stated that Visa "knowingly profiting along with them, were major American credit companies and banks, including in particular here, defendant Visa, who was uniquely suited to stop this exploitation but chose instead to participate in the profiteering." This 179-page complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California.

In August 2022, a federal judge in California dismissed Visa's motion to be removed from an ongoing lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney ruled that "Visa made the decision to continue to recognize MindGeek as a merchant, despite its alleged knowledge that MindGeek monetized child porn. MindGeek made the decision to continue monetizing child porn, and there are enough facts pled to suggest that the latter decision depended on the former." The lawsuit involved a woman who sued Visa and MindGeek for revenue generated from sexually explicit videos taken when she was a minor and disseminated on Pornhub and other MindGeek sites. The lawsuit alleged that MindGeek delayed removing an explicit video posted when the woman was 13 and required her to submit photographic evidence to prove her identity.

However, in an unpublished decision on September 26, 2025, Judge Wesley L. Hsu of the Central District of California granted Visa Inc.'s motion to dismiss all claims brought against it under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and related California laws in the case of Fleites v. Visa Inc. The plaintiff in this case alleged that Visa knowingly facilitated MindGeek’s monetization of child sexual abuse material by processing payments for MindGeek’s paid sites. The court found that the pleadings did not establish direct beneficiary liability, did not state a plausible civil conspiracy claim under the TVPRA even after a 2023 amendment expanding civil liability, and did not support claims under California’s civil conspiracy, privacy, and consumer-protection statutes.

Visa's Actions and Public Pressure

In August 2022, Visa announced it would suspend card acceptance for MindGeek's ad network, TrafficJunky, until further notice. This decision followed media pressure from investor Bill Ackman, lawyer Michael Bowe, and anti-porn activist Laila Mickelwait. Visa's CEO, Alfred F. Kelly Jr., communicated this decision via a letter. Ackman, Mickelwait, and Bowe had personally targeted Kelly as responsible during an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box," hosted by Andrew R. Sorkin.

During the CNBC appearance, Ackman urged Kelly to position Visa as the ultimate arbiter of what is permissible online, without waiting for the outcome of pending civil lawsuits concerning user-generated content. Kelly acknowledged that "it is not popular for an exec to evaluate in on legal matters in advance of a final ruling," but then made an exception, stating, "this scenario, however, is different, and as CEO—and a father and grandfather—I feel obliged to speak out."

Anti-porn activist groups celebrated Visa and Kelly's decision, characterizing it as a victory for their "operation chokehold," an initiative aimed at using courts and media to pressure private financial companies and web platforms to determine what online content can and cannot be shared.

Key Facts

  • A Delaware Chancery Court consolidated three shareholder claims against Visa regarding alleged MindGeek repayment processing.
  • The lawsuits, filed between January 19 and March 13, aim to hold Visa responsible for alleged monetization of user-generated CSAM content on MindGeek websites.
  • Plaintiffs allege Visa denied them access to books and documents to investigate the issue.
  • In August 2022, Visa suspended card acceptance for MindGeek's ad network, TrafficJunky, following public pressure.
  • A federal judge in California dismissed Visa's motion to be removed from a lawsuit in August 2022, but a later federal court decision in September 2025 dismissed TVPRA claims against Visa in a separate case.