Florida has a new law coming into effect on January 1, 2025, which is unlikely to be popular with literally anyone who’s ever been horny.
It’s called HB 3, and mandates that anyone accessing a website containing adult content must input their government ID to ensure they are of legal age. Mega-huge porn site PornHub has already cut off access to 12 other Republican-led states that have passed similar laws, and starting January 1, 2025, it’ll be doing the same in Florida.
Aylo, the company that owns PornHub, says it is revoking the entire state’s access over concerns about privacy and user safety. The company says that age verification laws often result in the collection of sensitive personal information, posing a security risk to its users. Floridians visiting the site are currently being hit with a popup warning them of the eventual loss of access.
“Did you know that your government wants you to give your driver’s license before you can access PORNHUB? As crazy as that sounds, it’s true,” the message reads. “You’ll be required to prove you are 18 years or older such as by uploading your government ID for every adult content website you’d like to access. We don’t want minors accessing our site and think preventing that from happening is a good thing. But putting everybody’s privacy at risk won’t achieve that.”
That last sentence is important here, and represents the crux of Aylo/PornHub’s argument. Rather than allow for blanket laws that affect every citizen in a state – a law that quite literally requires a person to hand their personal information over to the government just to watch porn – PornHub believes these types of age verification systems should be handled at the device level. Meaning, the device being used to access adult content, whether it be a smartphone, a PC, or a tablet, should have tools built into it that mark that device as 18+, thus providing its user with access to adult experiences without having to give up all of their information to a state government. This isn’t some fantasy age verification systems that only exist in theory; it exists today and is already in heavy use.
The law is already being challenged by the Free Speech Coalition, a trade organization that represents the adult entertainment industry. The group says the law violates free speech rights, exposes personal data to potential security breaches, and puts undue financial strain on adult content websites.
Of course, none of this should be surprising. If the past 40 years of Republican rule have taught us anything, it’s that for as much lip service as they pay the idea of a small government that doesn’t interfere with your personal life, Republicans actually love big government. They just use it differently than Democrats.
The post PornHub Pulling Out of Florida on January 1st, 2025 appeared first on VICE.
The post PornHub Pulling Out of Florida on January 1st, 2025 appeared first on VICE.
