A new age verification law that goes into effect in Utah on Wednesday has caused some of the biggest adult websites on the internet, including Pornhub, to start banning access to Utah residents.
This week, the adult websites Pornhub and others under the control of its parent company MindGeek started to block users from Utah-based IP addresses. A message against SB287, the Utah bill signed by Gov. Spencer Cox in March that creates liability for porn sites that make their content available to users under the age of 18, is now displayed to affected users when they visit those websites instead of pornographic content.
“As you may know, your elected officials in Utah are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” the message said. “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.”
The statement, accompanied by a video of an adult actor reading the message on camera, added that the age verification requirement could drive users “to sites with far fewer safety measures.” And it called for policymakers to “identify users by their device” rather than by requiring them to upload their photo ID.
“Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Utah,” the message said, concluding with a call for Utahns to “demand device-based verification solutions” from policymakers.
Beyond the statement it sent to users in Utah, Pornhub declined to comment on its actions there. It also declined to comment on the probability of attempts to get around the IP address filtering.
Not all websites confront requests for age verification, even porn sites. Legislators at the state and federal levels are working harder to impose a minimum age requirement for using social media. US senators recommended a nationwide ban on children under 13 using social media last week. In Arkansas, age restrictions for social media platforms have also been approved.
Porn, however, frequently serves as a barometer for future content and technology regulation. One of the nation’s first minimum ages for pornographic websites was implemented in Louisiana in January.
Despite Louisiana’s age verification law, Pornhub, which claims to receive 130 million visitors each day, is still accessible there. Users who browse Pornhub from Louisiana are shown a different webpage that instructs them to use LA Wallet, the state’s digital ID system, to confirm their age.
According to a spokesman for the website, traffic from Louisiana has decreased by 80% since the Louisiana law took effect. The spokesman said that Utah does not have a comparable digital ID solution, in contrast to Louisiana.
The option to create an electronic driver’s licence that can be used at nearby liquor stores, credit unions, and the Salt Lake City International Airport has been available to Utah citizens since 2021. As of March, more than 24,000 people had registered with Utah’s system, which enables users to store their licence on an app, according to a website for the programme. The device is presently not set up to provide online age verification and is only designed for in-person use, the Pornhub spokeswoman told CNN on Tuesday.
AgeID, a different age verification business owned by MindGeek, is now used in Germany but does not currently conduct business there.
Also read: Utah man survives shark attack off Hawaii’s Big Island
