Pornhub is urging tech giants to enable device-based age verification

With age verification and the general de-identification of the Internet, these are issues that will now confront almost everyone, but especially those who are politically unfavorable. Sex workers have been dealing with issues like online censorship and surveillance for a long time. One of the goals of Project 2025, the MAGA playbook during President Trump’s second term, was to “backdoor” national bans on pornography through state laws.

The current increase in child protection laws around the world is dramatically changing how people interact with the Internet, and is also impacting industries beyond pornography, including gaming and social media. As of December 10 in Australia, in accordance with the government’s ban on social media, children under the age of 16 will be kicked out of using Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

Ultimately, Stabile says that may be the goal. In the United States, “advocates for these bills are largely divided into two groups: religious organizations that do not believe adult content should be legal, and age verification providers who benefit from restricting the Internet.” He says the goal of religious organizations is to destabilize the adult industry and discourage adults from using it, while the latter works to expand their markets as much as possible, “even if it means aligning with right-wing censorship.”

But the problem is, “even the well-meaning legislators who are introducing these bills understand very little about the Internet,” Stabile adds. “Going after a political punching bag like Pornhub is much easier than going after Apple or Google. “But if you don’t address the reality of the Internet, if your legislation conflicts with consumer behavior, you will end up creating systems that fail.”

Adult industry insiders I spoke to in August explained that the biggest misconception about the industry is that it is in conflict with self-regulation when that couldn’t be further from the truth. “Keeping minors off adult sites is a shared responsibility that requires a global solution,” Kekesi says. “Every phone, tablet or computer should start out as a safe device for kids. Only verified adults should open access to things like dating apps, gambling, or adult content.” In 2022, Pornhub created a chatbot that encouraged people searching for child sexual abuse content to seek advice; The tool was introduced after a 2020 New York Times investigation that claimed the platform monetized videos showing child abuse. Pornhub has since begun releasing annual transparency reports and has tightened its verification of performers and video uploaders.

According to Politico, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, and Pinterest all supported the California bill. Currently, this law is limited to California, but Kekesi believes it could be a model for other states.

“Clearly we see that there is some kind of way forward here,” she says.