Age verfication - to block or not to block

Webmaster Discussion
#1

I just had a list of states in the USA that now have some kind of age verification laws in place:

*Texas

  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Idaho
  • Indiana
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Kansas
  • Virginia
  • North Carolina
  • Oklahoma
  • Utah

I don’t know much about US politics but many of these states look like the sort of places that are socially and religiously conservative. Given Trump’s election and the shift to the right in many other places in the world, the only thing that seems to be preventing the full scale implementation of age verification is the practical problem of implementing it. Pornhub had (a few years ago now) been proactively working with the UK Government on developing an AV product but their strategy seems to have fundamentally changed - now they (PH) are simply blocking states with AV laws rather than engaging on the issue. The relationship between the UK and PH collapsed and the UK quietly dropped its AV plans due to lack of a workable solution.

The easy work arounds (VPN’s), data protection, issues, scope of the regulations (AV for twitter, insta, tik tok, etc? - seems unlikely?) and the reach of it too - my paysite is legally registered in the UK, if i dont implement AV, is someone from Texas gona be knocking on my door? - all seem to point to a reason for nerves in the adult industry to remain calm and governments to simply give up.

However, i expect this is wishful thinking. Despite the lack of an effective solution, I fear this simply means the adult industry will eventually need to pay the price of an ineffective solution because the issue is still not far from the centre of politics in most places.

But is blocking the way to go? Is that feasible as a long-term strategy if AV laws spread beyond a handful of states? Taken to its logical conclusion, pulling down the shutters on your customers spells the end of your business. And what should smaller outfits like mine with only a couple of paysites be doing? The incentive to be proactive with AV is nil when your competition is doing nothing. But should we be following PH and blocking for now, even if this isn’t a long-term solution? Or maybe blocking is just for the big boys who are the more likely targets of legal action. What about medium sized outfits, should they be worried that states look to make an example of the next biggest guy when PH is not a target? Blocking cannot be the correct strategic response industry wide, but it certainly would seem to be the easiest and safest way to solve the problem short-term for an individual business.

#2

It probably first of all comes down to where you are based. If you’re located in one of those states then for sure you need to block or implement AV. If you’re in the US but in another state, probably same… If you’re outside of the USA then I’d wait and see what happens, when they go after someone it will first of all be the ones they can easily reach. It might be prudent to at least test blocking so that you have it ready when needed. I know some porn sites have been receiving lawsuits in Texas this week, so looks like it’s started.

The UK has not dropped their AV plans, it’s just delayed but the have it on their agenda.

Pornhub blocks rather than use AV, and i can see why. I really don’t think it works on their type of traffic, the cost would be huge unless they have their own system which would need to be approved or comply with various rules. Even if they have a really cheap solution or their own, how many would actually use it?

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#3

Yes let me correct myself, the UK gov did announce it was not going to implement AV in an earlier Bill, but the Digital Economy Act continued with it, you are right Bjorn. However, right now its been put in the hands of OFCOM, the regulator which so far has only issued a Guidance. New Guidance will be published January 2025, and content providers will need to comply by March 2025. So we don’t know what enforcement or the verification requirements yet look like yet but we will soon i guess. There is a new Government since that Bill and they’ve said they intend to amend the Online Safety Act so worth keeping an eye on that.

#4

Looks like they just announced that at least membership sites have to now comply by 25th July next year and then sites with user generated content at a later date. I guess it’s a higher priority for anyone based in the UK, but want to see how others comply and if they do.