A few states in the US are passing restrictive laws that are meant to prevent children from accessing adult content on the internet. But one state, Louisiana, is taking the battle against pornography to a new level by allowing its Attorney General to go after adult content companies directly.
As technology evolves and legislation tries to stay relevant, the safety of kids on the internet is a conversation of critical importance. But lawmakers using valuable time and energy trying to stay ahead of technology now want users to upload government identification to verify the age of its residents who want to access adult entertainment.
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Laws requiring age verification have passed in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Utah. In early May, PornHub blocked its services from Utah in protest of the law. The adult media empire has adopted an age verification tool called LA Wallet, which maintains a digital copy of users' driver's licenses.
Under the current law, individual residents of Louisiana can sue companies that don't comply with age verification. But Rep. Laurie Schlegel (R) says that the new legislation is reserved for adult entertainment sites that “simply disregarded” the law.
Adult performer Cherie DeVille lays out exactly why these kinds of censorship laws won't be effective in an op-ed for Rolling Stone. "VPNs allow users to change the location of their IP address," she says. "Anyone with a teenage relative knows kids use them. Teens can evade Utah’s ID requirements in seconds."
Still, the law is likely to negatively affect independent adult content creators who can't afford digital age verification services. As for the residents of Louisiana, they'll either have to get hip with the tech or rely on a more primitive source of adult entertainment.
