Popular pornography website Pornhub has blocked people in Utah from accessing the site as the state’s new age verification law takes effect.
Pornhub Message to Utah Residents
The Washington Times reported that Utah residents realized on Monday that when they visited Pornhub, they couldn’t access the site’s content and were instead shown a video message telling them that the site has completely disabled their access to the site in that region due to the state’s ID requirement law for adult sites.
The story added that Pornhub had previously battled the state of Utah on similar regulations, like one requiring the adult sites to display a warning message before allowing visitors access to the site’s content.
Legislation for ID Requirements to Access Porn
Senate Bill 287 passed last year in the state legislature unanimously, requiring adult/porn websites to use age-verification systems and requiring users to enter their digital version of state-issued ID. The law is meant to stop minors from accessing explicit content.
Ars Technica reported last month that Louisiana became the first state in legislating measures to stop minors from accessing porn online and requiring ID from residents to access adult content. A number of other red states followed suit and introduced similar laws including Florida, Kansas, South Dakota, West Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Virginia.
Public’s Reaction
Many who are worried about minors being allowed on porn sites are heaving a sigh of relief over Pornhub being subject to regulation by the state law. One comment on Twitter said: “Good, we don’t want your site to be accessible, you idiots! You’ve just made this better for us!”
Whether they like it or not, they are loudly admitting now that they want minors to watch porn. They refuse to cooperate with any security measures to stop 12 year olds from becoming porn addicts. Good riddance. I hope Pornhub never unblocks Utah if that's the case!
— Uesugi (@UtahUesugi) May 2, 2023
Another wrote that Pornhub’s action to not follow age verification process shows that it is basically admitting that underage children are its target audience.
"The law, known as SB287, which was signed by Utah Governor Spencer Cox in March, aims to hold adult websites accountable for making their content accessible to minors under the age of 18."
Pornhub is basically admitting that underage children are it's primary target audience.
— TBT-TheBigtoe (@The_Big_Toe) May 3, 2023
However, some advocates of privacy expressed concern over giving companies their private information.
