What Are Online Age Verification Laws?
The US and other countries now have a disproportionate number of legislation mandating age verification, which is a major threat to the internet adult entertainment market. Some believe that more than just a consumer’s freedom to access internet pornography may be at risk as a result of the recent wave of new regulations. Some, on the other hand, foresee a massive censorship campaign backed by political and religious groups that seek to strip adult entertainment companies of their legitimate and regulated status. In this blog post, Adult B2B Marketing examines a few of the contemporary issues surrounding age verification.
Age verification: How Do You Know?
Verifying someone’s age is a pretty simple process. Age verification is the process used to confirm a person’s age when they attempt to access or use resources or services that have age restrictions. Age verification is widely used to stop children from accessing age-restricted services or content, like gambling, adult content, cigarettes, or alcohol. Throughout the verification process, a number of methods can be employed, such as obtaining the user’s date of birth, examining the details on their credit card and government-issued ID, and using geolocation to confirm their whereabouts. Age verification is essential for legal compliance and for protecting children from inappropriate services or material.
Age Verification Software
Software for age verification was developed to ascertain a person’s age when they attempt to access particular online content or services. This is done to keep kids from getting access to the same items we talked about earlier. While age verification software is available in many forms and sizes, it generally employs various techniques to confirm the age of internet users.
Age Verification Software and Porn
Online adult entertainment has a rich history when it comes to age verification software. Businesses are more than happy to put age-verification systems in place to prevent kids from accessing content meant exclusively for adults. The gap arises when elected officials disregard the viewpoint of the industry while pressuring adult firms to implement age verification. Legislators in the American state of Louisiana, for example, opted to impose age verification requirements on websites that host content that is more than one-third “adult” and “pornographic.” To the great bewilderment and annoyance of users, the law was signed into law by the social-conservative administration during the 2022 legislative session and went into effect on January 1, 2023.
It’s Difficult to Have Age Verification Software Required by Law
Early in February, YNOT.com contributor Michael McGrady reported that the Louisiana senator responsible for this nation’s age verification law is a well-known anti-porn crusader and a professed “therapist” for those who battle “porn addiction.” The term “porn addiction” is not recognized as a legitimate mental health diagnosis in mainstream psychiatry, which views it as pseudoscience. Can you see the issue? Age verification serves as an anti-pornographic measure in this context, censoring and eventually outlawing adult content that is otherwise allowed by the First Amendment and other freedoms of speech.
The Louisiana Age Verification Law Explained
The requirement of official identification via a state-sponsored digital wallet service is another issue with the measure. In Louisiana, for example, anyone intending to visit a website like Pornhub is forced to upload a copy of their legal identification to a software called LA Wallet. LA Wallet does not offer software for age verification. It’s a digital wallet effort that enables Louisianans to use a digital copy of their ID card or driver’s license.
These services are accessible in various U.S. states, including Colorado. However, to access Pornhub, you must first verify your identification using the LA Wallet site, and only if you are 18 years of age or older (the legal viewing age for pornography) will access be authorized. However, Louisianans are not the only ones who must comply by this requirement. Everyone is subject to the age verification law, including visitors and guests from other states in the union or from overseas.
A Theoretical Case Study
Let’s look at an illustration of how this functions. Imagine a married couple heading to New Orleans for Mardi Gras (French for “Fat Tuesday”), the southern region’s biggest event. After having too much to drink, the couple decides to travel back to their hotel for a sex date. Every time they have sex, they both watch porn in New Hampshire, where they both live. Why is this evening any different?
With their laptop in hand, the couple visits Pornhub.com. However, the site is blocked because Louisiana law now demands that one of the two New Hampshire tourists prove their age by uploading a photo of their driver’s license to a dubious-looking verification service, which asserts that it has the power to prevent their viewing despite consent and the age.
Does this mean that the pair will put up with it so they can browse porn on their chosen website? In all honesty, it’s a toss-up. But that is unimportant. There is more going on here than merely a change in consumer behavior.
Digital Privacy Concerns
The acquisition of private information is another challenge. Privacy rules that call for obtaining sensitive data, such credit card information or government identification cards, are often written to demand risk reduction. As a result, businesses and age verification services are only required to obtain the data essential for them to function. The Louisiana age verification statute gives very little in the way of data assurance and protection, making it much more plausible that data from a corporation like LA Wallet doing age verification activities will be hacked. Additionally, porn-watching consumers, civil libertarians, and operators of adult websites all find having to alert your government that you want to see porn unpleasant.
Other Age Verification Bills to Watch
These are simply a sampling of the challenges raised by regulations demanding age verification. But the industry’s anxiety is still very much a reality. These state legislation efforts have been actively tracked by the Free Speech Coalition, a 501(c)6 trade group that represents the internet adult entertainment sector.
According to Mike Stabile, the coalition’s director of public affairs, lawmakers in 18 states have proposed multiple measures that ask for age verification methods. The most recent measure, AB-1505 in California, would make it permissible to sue websites with adult content if a youngster can access them.
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