The adult website known as Pornhub has now left 13 states due to laws requiring age verification on such sites before operate.
According to the New York PostMid-December, the up-to-date Florida law HB3 protects minors from accessing pornography on one of America’s most popular pornography distributors by requiring proof of identification before gaining access. In response, Pornhub threw a tantrum and said that instead of complying with the law, it would simply restrict access to its entire site within the state.
Now when you try to access the website, you will be greeted with a message:
“Did you know that your government requires you to surrender your driver’s license before you can access PORNHUB?” the smut sellers wrote in disbelief. “As crazy as that sounds, it’s true. You must prove that you are at least 18 years old, for example by uploading your government-issued ID for any adult content website you wish to access.”
The excuse Pornhub uses is that they don’t want you to have to do this because it compromises your privacy. However, Republicans are more concerned with protecting minors and their development. Pornhub claims that there are no negative effects on the brain from porn, even in minors scientifically proven untrue as it affects neural pathways, impulse control and dopamine desensitization.
The fact that Pornhub tried to argue that it doesn’t impact minors tells you all you need to know anyway. The moment they made this argument is the moment they lost the whole thing.
Not that there aren’t efforts to stop states like Florida. As the Post reports, Florida is being sued by several organizations to protect porn:
The law is considered broad and comprehensive among legal experts and faces legal challenges.
Florida is sued in U.S. District Court by Free Speech Coalition, INC., Deep Connection Technologies, INC., JFF Publications, LLC, Barry Chase, Esq and PHE INC.
This lawsuit claims that HB3 is just the latest in a series of laws that unconstitutionally seek to ban speech and harping on the “unclear definition of ‘material harmful to minors.'”
“Despite the claims of advocates, [the law] is not the same as showing ID at a liquor store,” Alison Boden, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, wrote in one opinion.
“It is invasive and poses significant privacy risks,” Boden added.
The Free Speech Coalition is a trade association for the adult entertainment industry.
The fight to keep porn flowing even crept into the 2024 election as the porn industry tried to support Democrats. Porn sites began running ads in swing states to get people to fight back against an “ultra-conservative agenda,” saying the attack on porn was “rooted in religious conservatism, fear-mongering and the suppression of women’s rights.”
(READ: Democrats Now Hope Porn Addiction Will Save Kamala Harris… No, Really)
But it seems that this only furthers the states’ victory against pornography. Age verification is currently required for almost the entire South. These 13 states are Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
Keep in mind that these states have not banned porn, they simply require porn sites to implement age verification on their sites. The porn sites themselves are blocking people in the States, and if they would rather do that than lend a hand make minors safer, then that should tell you what their true intentions are.
