NC age verification law leads to porn site block | Eastern NC Now

 
By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
January 5, 2024

North Carolina’s new age verification law, designed to keep minors from accessing online pornography, is having a broader than intended effect thanks to an act of protest by one of the nation’s largest porn peddlers. On Jan. 1, when the law took effect, Pornhub, which is said to have more users than Amazon or Netflix, put the Tar Heel state on its growing list of places where its website is no longer accessible. 

Other sites also owned by Aylo, which include Brazzers, Redtube and YouPorn, are also not accessible from North Carolina. Instead, when users click on the sites, they see a message from a clothed porn star urging them to contact their representatives and to “demand device-based verification solutions.” 

The company contends that having users provide their ID to verify that they are at least 18 puts their privacy at risk. So rather than comply, they are shutting out users from states with age verification laws with the apparent hope that lawmakers will receive enough pushback to alter the legislation.

So far, despite the popularity of Pornhub – the site logged 42 billion visits in 2019 – that hasn’t happened in any of the eight states with age verification laws.

“Implementing these age verification laws stems from a sincere concern for the potential societal impacts of explicit content,” explains the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League. He cited the growing body of evidence suggesting that exposure to explicit material can condition users towards deviancy and have adverse effects on psychological and emotional development, particularly among minors.

“The CAL firmly believes the proliferation of pornography, especially explicit and obscene material, contributes to the desensitization of individuals to sexual aggression and the debasement of women. It reduces the profound beauty of intimacy, a gift from God, to a mere commodity in the marketplace of indecency. Furthermore, pornography often conveys messages that pain and humiliation are acceptable, even enjoyable, for women, which has contributed to a culture of sexual aggression and violence,” Creech says.

Nearly three out of four teen respondents (73%) to a 2022 Common Sense Media poll said they had been exposed to pornography, either accidentally or on purpose. The poll showed that 15% of teens were exposed to porn online by age 10 (the average age is 12), and the majority of these exposures were unintentional.

North Carolina’s new law, an amendment to House Bill 8 which passed overwhelmingly last September, allows users to sue pornographic sites that retain their personal age verification info, and more importantly, lets parents sue sites that allow their minor children access. 

Creech says claims by the porn industry that such laws are a violation of free speech simply do not hold water.

“It is important to note the 1973 Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. California established a clear precedent that not all forms of expression, especially obscene materials, are protected by the First Amendment. Therefore, regulating explicit or obscene materials, as is the case with North Carolina’s age verification laws, is a constitutionally permissible measure that serves to protect the well-being of our state’s citizens,” he said.

“Ultimately, our goal is to safeguard the psychological and emotional health of our youth and maintain the moral fabric of our society. We firmly believe these restrictions on pornography are necessary, particularly and especially in shielding children from explicit and harmful content, as it is our duty to prioritize their well-being and development.”

A similar age verification law went into effect in Montana this month, and internet watchers reported that web searches for “VPN” in both states spiked as porn users tried to find ways around the Pornhub block. (Virtual private networks connect computers to remote servers owned by a provider, encrypting personal data and masking IP addresses.)

Rep. Laurie Schlegel, the Louisiana lawmaker who started the push for age-verification on porn sites in 2022, has told the media that she considers VPNs similar to fake IDs. The fact that there are ways for minors to get liquor doesn’t nullify the value of underage drinking laws, she contends, and neither should VPNs dissuade states from enacting age-verification laws. In her state, Pornhub is still available and uses Louisiana’s digital driver’s license wallet app to verify identities, but reports show traffic to the site has dropped by some 80 percent.

Since Louisiana started the trend, Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi, Virginia, Texas, and now Montana and North Carolina have passed their own versions of the law. At least a dozen more states are eyeing similar legislation. Politico calls the bills, which have passed by overwhelming margins and been signed by both Democratic and Republican governors, “the most bipartisan policy in the country.”

And so far, the age-verification efforts have withstood legal challenges. Suits over the requirements have been filed against Texas, Utah and Louisiana. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a district court’s injunction against the law in Texas. And judges in Utah and Louisiana have dismissed suits in those states.