Pornhub is under fire from US lawmakers as well as the EU over its age verification policies. Pornhub has blocked its websites in Montana and North Carolina due to a new age verification law aimed at protecting children from adult content, affecting millions of users.
What is the age verification law?
According to Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, the law requires users to show their ID card every time they visit a porn site, which is risky for both users and children.
Aylo, which also operates RedTube, Brazzers, and YouPorn, has already blocked access in five other states where similar legislation has been passed. When users attempt to access the sites, they are greeted with a video of porn star Cherie DeVille, who says that “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.”
Pornhub is under fire from lawmakers in the United States as well as the European Union, which has enacted its regulations. Some free speech advocates, however, argue that there are better ways to keep minors away from adult content without jeopardizing user privacy or freedom of expression.
For example, a director of the Free Speech Coalition, a lobbying group for the porn industry, told Mashable that he advises parents to use device-level filters to block all sites labeled “Restricted to Adults.”
Alana Evans, an adult performer, also told Mashable that parents should monitor their children’s online activity and talk to them about sex and porn, as well as other harmful content like violence. Some users have also discovered ways to circumvent the ID requirements in states where Pornhub’s service has not been blocked.
Pornhub has also been accused of hosting illegal content involving victims of sex trafficking. According to The Verge, Aylo’s parent company was fined $1.8 million by a federal court and ordered to compensate victims after admitting to making money from videos of women forced to perform in porn.
According to the federal government, Aylo “turned a blind eye” to sex trafficking and ignored messages from victims stating that they did not consent to the videos. According to Time, Aylo denied any criminal wrongdoing but agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement, which means it will have an independent monitor for three years to ensure that any illegal content on its sites is removed.