Age verification: Pornhub blocks users in the US state of Arkansas

Age verification: Pornhub blocks users in the US state of Arkansas

Canadian pornhub operator MindGeek is banning all users in Arkansas from its websites after the state’s new age verification law went into effect on Tuesday. This was reported by the US technology portal The Verge on Thursday.

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Arkansas law SB 66 (PDF) does not prohibit porn site Pornhub from operating in Arkansas, but it does require porn sites to use ID to verify that users are at least 18 years old. In protest, Pornhub blocked all traffic from Arkansas-based IP addresses on Wednesday, The Verge writes.

“The law endangers children and their privacy”

The operator MindGeek argues that the law, which is actually intended to protect children and young people, actually harms users. “While safety and compliance are our top priorities, presenting ID every time you visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution to protect our users and indeed puts children and their privacy at risk,” MindGeek wrote in a message that appears instead of the Pornhub homepage for the affected users. The ban also applies to other popular MindGeek porn websites, such as RedTube.

Louisiana became the first US state to enact regulations requiring porn sites to verify the age of users. That law, in turn, inspired other Republican-governed US states to introduce similar regulations. At least six US states have passed similar measures, some of which are not expected to come into effect for a few months.

MindGeek reacts to wave of bans

In response to this wave of bans, MindGeek has decided to block access in those US states where the laws are already in place. So far, MindGeek has blocked access for people from Mississippi, Utah and Virginia.

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When the Republican-governed state of Utah passed a law that held adult content providers liable if young people passed age verification, the Pornhub operator blocked users from Utah. From MindGeek’s point of view, the only sensible solution would be age verification on the end devices. There, legal guardians have been able to set up free filters for underage users for some time.

Pros and cons of age verification

In Louisiana, MindGeek initially set up a corresponding verification hurdle at the beginning of the year. This is possible there because Louisiana allows the use of his ID cards online, it said. But Utah does not. With the verification, data traffic in Louisiana fell by 80 percent, according to the company. Instead of implementing age verification systems, MindGeek decided to block access entirely and urged users to contact their state legislatures to challenge these laws.

Age verification for pornography is also to become mandatory in Great Britain. According to the British government, all online offers, including social media, that spread pornographic content will have to carry out an age check in the future. In Germany, the technical means intended to keep under-18s away from pornographic content are highly controversial. While the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (KJM) advocates age verification systems, porn activists consider such a requirement to be dangerous because it drives the majority of users to sites abroad outside of the local jurisdiction.

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