Rather than comply with a state’s age verification laws, Pornhub chose to block everyone from those states from accessing its site.
Why?
Several states, including Utah, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Virginia, have passed age verification laws. According to various reports, Pornhub won’t allow anyone from those states to access its site.
Why?
Well, the company claims its opposition to age verification laws is based on lofty principles about protecting children.
No, really…
“As you may know, your elected officials have required us to verify your age before granting you access to our website,” Pornhub spokeswoman Sharita Bell explained. “While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users—and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.”
Let’s break that down…
While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission…
Does anyone believe that “safety and compliance” is Pornhub’s primary mission? It’s a sleazy porn site, not the National Guard.
…giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users…
Obviously, using ID online puts your privacy at risk, but this is true of every site on the Internet that involves payment, including some of the biggest sites on the planet: eBay, Etsy, Amazon, Paypal, Facebook, Twitter (X), automatic bill pay through your bank… Gimme a break.
…and, in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.
The idea that using your ID to access porn puts children at risk is pure Orwellian gibberish. Pornhub obviously couldn’t come up with even a semi-intelligent way to pretend it cares about children, so it threw out the words “children….at risk,” hoping no one would notice.
Come on… Is a hardcore porn site really so concerned for our safety that it’s blocking everyone’s access to protect us and our children?
Regardless, is it not our decision to accept the privacy risk that goes with putting private information online? Why is Big Brother Pornhhub making this decision for us?
I have a theory…
Methinks—and I’m just thinking out loud here—Pornhub closing down these states might have a little something to do with this…
After [Pornhub operator] MindGeek started complying with the Louisiana law earlier this year, the company said traffic dropped by 80 percent. So, instead of rolling out age verification systems, it says it decided to block access entirely, calling on users to contact their state representatives to oppose these laws.
What does it tell you that age verification resulted in an 80 percent drop in Pornhub’s traffic?
Certainly, some of that drop-off is, as Pornhub claims, adults from Louisiana simply moving to porn sites that have not complied with the age verification law. But how much of that 80 percent were indeed children? I’ll bet it was a whole lot. If it’s just one percent, it’s too many, right? I’m also willing to bet Pornhub would prefer to lose the traffic coming in from an entire state than deal with the news that age verification laws have decreased Pornhub’s traffic by a huge percentage, which suggests a whole lot of underage kids have been visiting Pornhub.
So what’s Pornhub’s solution to “protect the children?”
“We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification.” The company told WRIC out of Virginia, adding: “Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Virginia.”
That’s no solution. All a kid has to do to enjoy unlimited hardcore porn is to gain access to an iPhone, tablet, or PC that’s been cleared. Then he’s set for life.
Listen, I don’t think porn should be outlawed, but it shouldn’t be easier for a child to access hardcore porn than for me to buy batteries from Amazon.
Have you ever gone to Pornhub’s homepage—which is accessible to everyone not in an age-restricted state? What immediately pops up are hardcore, X-rated videos. It’s all right there in your face regardless of your age.
Everything possible must be done to protect children from this stuff, and those who fight these controls are immediately suspect.
Let me put it this way…
There’s a big difference between a guy who runs an XXX-rated movie theater and a guy who runs an XXX-rated movie theater and lets little kids in. I have no problem with the first guy. Live and let live. The second guy can claim it’s the responsibility of parents to keep those kids out of his theater, but he’s still allowing them in and needs to go to prison.
I will say this… Parents are primarily responsible. You need to keep an eye on your kids’ online life.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
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