Earlier this year, a new law went into effect in Louisiana. This requires online her publishers to conduct age verification checks if the content on their sites is over 33.3% pornographic.
Pursuant to this law, Pornhub requires visitors to verify their age on the LA Wallet app, a digital wallet for Louisiana driver’s licenses. According to Motherboard, no other popular adult website has introduced an age check yet. However, according to new laws, pornographic sites can be sued for damages resulting from access to such content by minors. TechCrunch reached out to her Pornhub for comment.
“Technological advances, the ubiquitous availability of the Internet, and restrictions on age verification requirements have exposed minors to pornography at a young age,” the law states. contributes to hypersexual orientation among adolescents and preadolescents, leading to low self-esteem, impaired body image, an increase in problematic sexual behavior at a young age, and a desire for risky sexual behavior in adolescence. could lead to an increase in
The bill was drafted by Rep. Laurie Schlegel (R-LA). Schlegel has advocated legislation that would make it illegal for his transgender teens to participate in school sports according to their gender identity. Before taking office in 2021, Schlegel worked as a sex addiction counselor.
sex worker, professor, and research fellow at UCLA’s Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, Olivia Snow describes these age verification checks as part of the “sex panic.” Although the law stipulates that age-verifying sites cannot retain identifying information, consumers of pornography may still fear a data breach, and this is a very valid concern.
Websites such as PornHub and OnlyFans require performers to prove their age and identity as a way of policing non-consensual content and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). However, if consumers are required to submit legal documents to view porn, they may look to other sites whose content may not have been sufficiently vetted.
Snow told TechCrunch: “I think this means an increase in the black market for premium content disseminated without consent.”
Laws like Louisiana Statute 440 and SESTA/FOSTA are positioned to defend child safety. In practice, however, the law usually only makes it more difficult for sex workers to work safely. Moreover, in some cases, these laws make it really difficult for law enforcement to curb sex trafficking.
In 2018, the Department of Justice seized Backpage.com. The site was used by sex workers as a tool for scrutinizing face-to-face clients. When the site was shut down for money laundering and sex trafficking, the Indiana State Police said it became more difficult to catch people engaged in sex trafficking.
Snow said Act 440 “is likely to have a similar impact to the Backpage collapse, meaning that sex workers will lose another source of income and will be forced to resort to less protected means.” said.
In 2020, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed to the Senate a study of secondary effects of SESTA/FOSTA on sex workers.
“Sex workers report a diminished ability to screen potential clients for safety and negotiate boundaries such as condom use, resulting in reports of physical and sexual violence. “Many sex workers have turned to street work, which has historically been associated with higher rates of violence than other forms of transactional sex.” .”
Snow describes the act of requiring people to upload an ID to watch porn as surveillance. In the most extreme cases, this kind of surveillance can harm her LGBTQ people, she says.
“Homophobia and transphobia, especially homophobia in the context of pornography, is on the rise, so it’s imperative that the state focus on people consuming gay and lesbian pornography and investigate further or criminalize it.” In the text of Act 440, the bill warned that pornography could cause “deviant sexual arousal,” but the meaning of “deviant” does not define
“Trans women are disproportionately represented in sex work,” said Snow. “I don’t know if it’s a conscious decision for legislators or just circumstantial, but as always, I think trans female sex workers will be most affected.”
For years, the UK government has been working on an online safety bill, but a constant change of leadership has stalled the bill. As it stands, the bill could introduce similar age checks, requiring users to verify their age before accessing sexually explicit content.
In the past, the UK government tried to force age verification on porn sites, but dropped plans in 2019 due to technical and regulatory issues mandating age verification, as well as concerns about privacy issues. Age checks in the UK are being considered again.
Either way, we wouldn’t be surprised if many Louisiana residents suddenly took an interest in learning how to use a VPN.
