PornHub, a major adult site, announces that it will block access from states that require age verification by law, what is the reason for blocking even if access decreases by 80%?
PornHub, a major adult video site, has announced that it will block access from states that enforce laws requiring age verification to view adult sites (Age Verification Law).
Pornhub cuts off more US users in ongoing protest over age-verification laws | Ars Technica
On June 30, 2023, PornHub issued a statement on its official Twitter that it would block access from Mississippi and Virginia.
The full text of the statement is below.
Some of you may not know, but elected officials in the United States have begun introducing laws to prevent children from accessing 'material harmful to minors' online. I am.
This is great. We have supported this type of legislation for years. Because we believe these laws must protect user safety and privacy and effectively protect children from accessing adult content.
Unfortunately, the way many lawmakers have chosen to implement new laws to protect minors is haphazard and dangerous. The problem is as follows.
Many states, including Virginia and Mississippi, are requiring age verification for users starting July 1, but do not mandate compliance with the law. This means that adult platforms can choose to comply or not. Responsible platforms will follow the law; irresponsible platforms will not.
We've already seen how this scenario plays out. When Louisiana enacted a similar law in January, Pornhub was one of the few sites to comply. But since then, traffic from Louisiana has dropped by about 80%. This doesn't mean people in Louisiana are no longer consuming pornographic content. They just moved on to other irresponsible sites that don't take user safety seriously and don't even regulate content.
We made the difficult decision to completely block access from Virginia and Mississippi, as we did in Utah. We regret the decision to disappoint our loyal users in these states, but we have decided to comply with the newly enacted law in this manner.
The only solution to making the Internet safer, protecting users' privacy, and preventing children from accessing adult content is age verification on the device of origin. Many devices already offer free, easy-to-use parental control features that allow you to prevent children from accessing adult content without risking disclosure of sensitive user data. Masu.
User safety is our primary concern. That's why we're taking this important step to protect the users our elected politicians choose to put at risk.
Pornhub is not the only company protesting the age verification laws enforced in each state of the United States. The Free Speech Coalition (FSC), an industry group related to adult content, is also
'These laws give states the power to harass and censor legitimate businesses,' said Alison Bowden, director general of the FSC. 'Of course we want to ensure that minors cannot access adult content. 'We support this, but for the state to require an invasive and burdensome system in which consumers refuse to participate is nothing more than an authorization to suppress certain speech, and is nothing more than state censorship.' doing.
When foreign media outlet Ars Technica asked the FSC for comment, Mike Stabile, the organization's communications director, said, ``The Age Verification Act is more focused on restricting the open internet than protecting minors.'' It should be understood that state-level regulations that primarily target adult sites are largely ineffective at preventing minors from accessing adult content. This is nothing more than government control of speech, and it is extremely important to fight against this regulation at this moment.''
Stabile added, ``Some states have laws that contain ambiguous language such as ``depictions of female nipples'' alone are enough to hold a website liable. It has far more impact than the site.' The FSC also requires ``device-based age verification'' similar to Pornhub, which is ``far more effective at preventing minors from accessing adult content'' than age verification on the website. 'It's an excellent method.'
According to FSC estimates, if you violate the Age Verification Act, you may be fined up to $1 million (approximately 140 million yen) per year.
Age verification laws that have been enacted in states such as Louisiana, Virginia, and Mississippi will now be implemented in Arkansas (July 31, 2023), Texas (September 1, 2023), and Montana (January 1, 2024). It is scheduled to come into effect on Sunday. Since Pornhub is the 8th most accessed website in the United States at the time of article creation, it is expected that even more American citizens will be unable to access Pornhub in the future. Therefore, Ars Technica reports that Pornhub's blocking of access from states that have enacted age verification laws 'seems to be the only realistic way to take action to protest age verification laws.' I did.
In addition, the FSC recommends that adult sites such as Pornhub take measures to block access to protest against age verification laws, and has also launched a protest campaign on the Internet called ``Defend Online Privacy''. Defend Online Privacy provides a landing page that makes it easy to access blocked sites like Pornhub, even from blocked states.
Defend Online Privacy
https://www.defendonlineprivacy.com/
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