Earlier this year, Florida's state legislature passed House Bill 3, which contains a number of provisions related to internet and social media access for minors. One of those provisions stipulates that any website "that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors ... to use certain verification methods and prevent access to such material by minors..." With the bill now signed into law and slated to go into effect on January 1, the website PornHub is now blocking Florida residents from accessing its site.

When internet users with a Florida-based IP address visit PornHub, they are now greeted with a notice criticizing the age verification requirement. "Did you know that your government wants you to give your driver's license before you can access PORNHUB?" the notice reads. It continues, "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." The notice claims that the age verification requirement is "putting everybody's privacy at risk..." PornHub warned users that they will no longer be able to access the website starting January 1.

In comments to The Washington Stand, Haley McNamara, senior vice president of Strategic Initiatives and Programs at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), stated, "Florida is right to protect children from easily accessing online pornography, which is rife with child sexual abuse material, rape, sex trafficking, image-based sexual abuse, and other nonconsensual content." She continued, "Rather than simply complying with the law, PornHub has banned its site to Floridians, revealing an ugly truth: it will lose revenue if children cannot access pornography on its site. PornHub depends on children having access to boost its profits."

Florida is one of 16 states to require age verification before accessing pornographic websites. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Virginia have also enacted similar laws. Alaska's state legislature is currently working on an age verification bill and Arizona passed such a bill earlier this year, but Governor Katie Hobbs (D) vetoed it.

PornHub has completely shut down in many states with age verification laws in effect. So far, the porn website's parent company—formerly called MindGeek, now called Aylo—has closed access to its pornographic websites in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia. A survey published last year found that a supermajority (83%) of American adults support age verification laws to protect minors from accessing pornographic websites.

PornHub and its parent company, along with the pornography industry's trade group, the Free Speech Coalition, have challenged a number of these laws. In January, the US Supreme Court will hear a challenge brought against Texas's age verification law, although the court refused to issue a temporary injunction against the law. Texas's Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) has also filed a lawsuit against PornHub for refusing to comply with the state's age verification law. "The porn industry is fighting to let children have unrestricted access to online pornography with its challenge of Texas's age verification law," McNamara said. She added, "Age verification to access pornography does not infringe on the privacy of adults and is one of several ways that can protect children from gaining access to harmful pornography."

PornHub has a long history of involvement in sexual exploitation. Both the website and its parent company have admitted to profiting from sex trafficking and have been accused of failing to verify the ages of both internet users and those featured in pornographic videos. PornHub has been accused of hosting and profiting from videos depicting rape and child sexual abuse and has increasingly promoted content related to incest, homosexuality, and violence. Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

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