Age verification laws designed to block children from online porn sites are sweeping the US, Io Dodds writes. But do they actually protect children, or is there another agenda at work?

Summary

Several U.S. states have enacted laws requiring pornography sites, such as PornHub, to implement age verification to prevent minors’ access, prompting the site’s parent company, Aylo, to block access in affected states.

Proponents argue these laws protect children, while critics highlight privacy risks, inefficiencies, and potential censorship.

These measures reflect growing social conservatism, with some advocates aiming to restrict adult content broadly.

While privacy-focused age verification methods exist, regulatory clarity is lacking.

Critics warn these laws may suppress responsible platforms, favoring unregulated alternatives, and escalate broader culture wars around sexuality and LGBTQ+ rights.

  • @TheDemonBuer
    -26•1 day ago

    Several U.S. states have enacted laws requiring pornography sites, such as PornHub, to implement age verification to prevent minors’ access

    Doesn’t seem too unreasonable. When I buy alcohol I have to provide verification that I’m over 21.

    The thing is, how do they enforce it? People in those states can still access pornhub through a VPN. Plus, what about all the other many, many porn sites?

    I get what they’re trying to do, but I think there are some logistics that haven’t really been thought out.

    • @[email protected]
      8•1 day ago

      They expect the porn provider to verify age/id through very invasive and onerous means. It is in no way reasonable or secure to give some random porn site a copy of your government ID. They will get hacked; not if, when.

      • @Ensign_CrabEnglish
        4•20 hours ago

        They will get hacked; not if, when.

        Not only that, it turns any site that doesn’t just outright block the age verification states into a massive target.

    • @[email protected]
      5•24 hours ago

      You’re kind of missing the point entirely. We already know that the current methods used to verify age aren’t privacy-respecting and only serve to block legitimate use.

      • @TheDemonBuer
        3•17 hours ago

        All I’m saying is I don’t think the age verification requirement, in and of itself, is unreasonable. I’m not necessarily in opposition to better, more privacy-respecting verification methods, nor am I necessarily opposed to, for instance the age verification requirement being lifted until better age verification technology can be developed. All I’m saying is I personally do not find the age verification requirement itself to be unreasonable. That’s it.

    • Snot FlickermanEnglish
      23•1 day ago

      But that’s just it, they have thought about the logistics. We already have Meta changing their rules to allow LGBTQ + people to be called “mentally ill” with no repercussions.

      The Great Firewall of China isn’t an accident, it’s actually how internet hardware like routers and switches are built to work from the ground up, with security like access control lists, as well as logging connections and seeing what data goes where and so on. That’s the scary thing about the internet, it just takes people wanting to turn it into a draconian nightmare to flip a few switches. I mean, really, the US already has but it just feels like it less because of the release valve of “free speech.” The NSA Utah datacenter has been around for a while now.

      They have thought about the logistics, and they want to bring those kind of controls here. As always the plan is to control what happens online. Musk has definitely made some weird and creepy comments about “making lists” and while he’s an idiot, he’s got the tools and people to make it happen.

      They couch it in a reasonable position to start the path to blocking access to content about sexuality for anyone. When youre a queer kid growing up and being told that it’s just the devil’s work and other bullshit the internet and being able to talk about your experience was the first freeing thing you could do in your life. It also lead to women having higher standards because women could communicate more and not be isolated by their male partners controlling behavior. Conservatives fucking hate that. This kind of ban could ban that kind of speech online, and I firmly believe it’s intended to.

    • @[email protected]
      23•1 day ago

      They, meaning the people behind the bans, have thought it through perfectly well. They are counting on milquetoast centrists to ‘both sides’ the issue so they can start to attack LGBTQ+ people and their concerns as being inherently indecent.

    • SaltySalamander
      9•1 day ago

      When I buy alcohol I have to provide verification that I’m over 21

      I was unaware that porn could kill you.

      • @TheDemonBuer
        2•1 day ago

        I never said that it could.

        Are you suggesting that it should be legal to sell alcohol to children so long as it’s not a lethal amount? Should a kid be able to buy a single beer? It’s not like it’s going to kill them.

        What about selling physical media pornography in a store to children? Should that be legal? It’s not going to kill them. Should a kid be able to walk into a porn store and slap down his allowance for a copy of Hardcore Anal Superstars 2?

        • @Tikiporch
          5•1 day ago

          This is a terrible analogy. Liquor purchases aren’t tracked by your ID. It’s not even mandatory to scan your ID to purchase alcohol.

      • @lath
        0•20 hours ago

        Not your fault. Nobody can be aware of everything.

        And yes, people have fapped to porn until they had a heart attack and died due to it.