Pornhub Blocks Access in Virginia

Studies have shown numerous times that the evangelicals and Bible Belt states have the highest usage of Internet porn sites even as "family values" groups rail against pornography.  Now, Virginia Republicans with the aid of Democrats have made it a requirement that to access porn sites in Virginia, users must provide proof of age identification, typically in the form of government issued ID.  The result is that the "holier than thou crowd" will have to offer up ID's to access their favorite porn sites and lose their ability to somewhat anonymously indulge their secret desires - which in public they likely loudly condemn.  There is a somewhat sweet irony in that while many professional Christians and Christofascists will celebrate the requirement, many of their rank and file followers will NOT be happy if they must produce government ID to indulge their fantasies. In response, Pornhub has blocked access to its site in Virginia.  Other sites may follow suit.  I am all about protecting children, but suspect this may not prove to be the best way of doing so, especially since many observers believe the requirement will increase chances of hacking and dark web access to personal information.   A piece in the Virginian Pilot and one in the the Virginia Mercury look at the new requirement.  First, this from the Pilot:

Virginians will likely be disappointed the next time they try to access Pornhub. The popular pornography site has blocked users with Virginia-based IP addresses in response to the state’s legislature passing a law that requires users to submit government identification to verify their age before watching their adult content. The new law, passed in May, goes into effect Saturday.

Users will be met with a message opposing the legislation, accompanied by a video featuring porn actress Cherie Deville reading it.

“As you may know, your elected officials in Virginia are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” the statement reads. “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.”

When asked ahead of signing the bill in May whether he was concerned about Pornhub making such a move, Gov. Glenn Youngkin told The Pilot that he would take the bill’s ramifications into account when making his decision. “I believe that children should be protected from pornography and I want to make sure that we do that,” Youngkin said at the time.

Virginia is the second state to get the cold shoulder from Pornhub. Utah passed a similar law in March, and the site blocked access to users in the state in the days before the law took effect in May.  Free speech advocates have come out against this legislation, arguing that personal data related to pornography usage could be vulnerable to hacks as a result.

The Virginia Mercury piece has this on the new legislation:

In Virginia, the law will allow people to sue pornographic websites that don’t use proper age and identity verification methods “for damages resulting from a minor’s access to such material.” 

However, Beth Waller, attorney and chair of the cybersecurity and data privacy practice at Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black law firm, said technology limitations could make it difficult for pornography websites to follow the requirements. She also questioned Virginia’s ability to enforce the law in the first place. 

Waller said Louisiana, which has a similar law, allows adult content websites to access the state’s central driver’s license online database to verify age and identity. Virginia, she said, doesn’t have a similar system. 

That means websites will have to use third-party verification methods from other companies that don’t have access to a central state database, she said, raising questions about how identification will be processed and verified.

“It’s not like walking into a bar where somebody can take the ID and use an ID reader to see if it’s valid,” Waller said. 

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’ office did not respond to multiple requests from the Mercury for information about how officials plan to enforce the new law. 

Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Alison Boden said the laws in Louisiana and Utah haven’t been enforced despite going into effect months ago.

“Because the laws are so poorly written, it’s impossible to know whether a site could be held liable for violating the law even when it’s made a good-faith effort to comply,” she said. “Website owners certainly worry that even though they’re following the law as they understand it, they could still end up being sued because young people understand technology like VPNs much better than politicians do.”

Uploading personal information through non-state verification methods also runs the risk of the information being exposed in a cybersecurity data breach, said Waller. 

“The intention behind the law is good,” Waller said. However, she added, “I do think that anyone who wants to bypass a law like that, they are properly motivated and tech savvy and will find a way to do so.”