Florida Becomes Latest State to Require Age Verification For Adult Sites

New Year’s Day was dampened for certain Floridian denizens of the web when, in response to the state enforcing a law requiring age verification to access adult websites, many pornographic platforms blocked their content altogether. Perhaps predictably, a major spike in searches for Virtual Private Proxies (VPNs), followed close behind. 

The Sunshine State is in fact just the latest to adopt such a law, with others such as Tennessee and South Carolina following in short order. Under the legislation dubbed House Bill 3, adult platforms could be fined as much as 50K for violations. 

Constituents argue that the enactments are necessary to protect underage internet users, while detractors have scrutinized the potential implications for data security and net neutrality. On both sides of the aisle, the response from big industry players such as Pornhub have sparked disappointment. 

Florida residents attempting to access the popular site are now presented with a video popup featuring adult actress Cherie DeVille, who states: “As you may know, your elected officials in Florida are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk." 

In a statement provided to Newsweek, Pornhub’s parent company Aylo said “Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults. Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions worldwide, including Florida, have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous," Aylo continued. "Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy.” 

Some have suggested compromises, such as screening questions, that would leave the bill’s more well meaning functions intact while still providing anonymity for its users. Regardless of what comes next, the notable uptick in VPN searches and downloads suggests that where there is a will there is a way for the more concupiscent browsers of Florida’s web. Georgia is set to enact a similar law come July, and only time will tell if it will be beset with the same debates and struggles as that of its sister state.