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SA Police suspend Crime Stoppers partnership due to parent company’s work with embattled porn giant

SA Police has suspended its Crime Stoppers partnership over its parent company’s work with one of the world’s most profitable – and controversial – porn publishers.

SA Police has frozen its partnership with the state Crime Stoppers branch over concerns about its parent company working with a major online pornography publisher.

However, Crime Stoppers International said the new venture is about “collaboration instead of exclusion” and would curb the spread of non-consensual and revenge pornography.

On Tuesday, a SAPOL spokeswoman told The Advertiser it had “sought further information” about a partnership entered into with Ethical Capital Partners in January.

The Canadian private equity firm owns multimillion-dollar porn giant Aylo, the publisher of PornHub and Brazzers among other websites.

“As an interim step, SAPOL has suspended involvement in current activities with CSSA pending the receipt of further advice,” the spokeswoman said.

However the Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 number and tip line remain operational.

It is unclear which of Crime Stoppers SA’s activities have been affected and it is understood that the state branch had no influence on the decision to partner with Aylo.

Crime Stoppers International deputy CEO Hayley van Loon said that the organisations would work together to review Aylo’s policies on preventing the spread of illegal content.

Deputy CEO of Crime Stoppers International, Hayley van Loon. Picture: Supplied
Deputy CEO of Crime Stoppers International, Hayley van Loon. Picture: Supplied

She said it was following the footsteps of other safety watchdogs, including the International Centre of Missing and Exploited Children.

“This is giving them a seat at the table so we can review their trust and safety protocols, benchmark them against standards by the Internet Watch Foundation, and that allows us to protect women and children that are vulnerable,” Ms van Loon said.

“Online content within the adult entertainment industry will continue to be produced, but we choose to collaborate instead of exclude so we can reduce the risk to vulnerable people in our society.”

Ms van Loon also said it was working with Aylo to design and implement device-based age verification on its websites, which would prevent users lying about their age to access online pornography.

In a statement, Crime Stoppers SA said it would co-operate with SAPOL.

“Crime Stoppers South Australia does not receive any financial contribution from Crime Stoppers International, nor are we running any campaigns or programs in partnership with Crime Stoppers International,” the spokesman said.

“For nearly 30 years, Crime Stoppers South Australia has had a strong and positive working relationship with SA Police and our strong ethical values and shared commitment to a safer community remain unchanged.”

In 2020, dozens of women in the US and Canada sued Aylo for hosting videos by now defunct producer GirlsDoPorn, which coerced them into having sex on camera.

Aylo paid a $1.8 million fine along with further damages to the exploited women.

Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-police-suspend-crime-stoppers-partnership-due-to-parent-companys-work-with-embattled-porn-giant/news-story/06f101b929987c26083c26f8c0a24065