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The Internet is transforming from an age of lasciviousness to an age of protection. Age verification laws designed to prevent children from accessing explicit content are emerging and are about to change the way millions of people use websites.
Online porn is everywhere, although the old joke that “everything on the Internet is porn” isn’t entirely true. Adult websites are not among the top 10 most visited websites. But they do occupy positions 11, 13 and 14. Their popularity is credited with driving widespread adoption of everything from faster broadband to video streaming.
Adult content is also known for increasing traffic on social media platforms. After Tumblr banned pornographic content in 2018, its popularity plummeted.
You might say that lewd websites fulfill the original dream of techno-utopians: that the Internet should be a place of total freedom, without surveillance or censorship. Of course, it’s easier to become idealistic when you’re not paying attention to what sites contain or who is viewing them.
Surveys show that exposure to pornography is extremely common among young people. Recent research by the UK’s Children’s Commissioner found that one in 10 nine-year-olds have viewed pornography. A study by French watchdog Arcom found that one in five 10-year-old boys browsed pornographic sites at least once a month. For some, these fake and extreme videos are their first introduction to adult sexual relationships.
The proposed remedy is to erect a barrier that forces users to show identification to prove they are adults – just as they might do when purchasing alcohol. In some places, such measures are already in place.
This year, anyone trying to open a porn website in Louisiana will immediately be turned to an age verification system. Arkansas, Montana, Mississippi, Virginia, Utah and other states are taking similar measures.
There is much to criticize about these decisions. Why is the minimum age for marriage in many states 16, but the cutoff is 18? How does the website ensure the security of user IDs? But widespread attempts to prevent children from seeing explicit or harmful online content are making progress.
In the coming weeks, Britain’s massive and long-delayed online safety bill is expected to become law, forcing porn sites to add age verification. The rules in the UK have long been stuck in the days of top magazines and DVDs – focusing on the sale of films and the display of “indecent content”. Efforts to update the law have stalled.
In 2019, the government hopes to introduce a new law making it illegal for under-18s to sell pornographic material online. But the plan was delayed and then abandoned. Now it has been resurrected.
The difficulty of choosing an efficient and secure way to verify age without compromising privacy is still raised as an objection, as is the possibility of virtual private networks (VPNs) being used to circumvent age restrictions.
Australia discovered this last month when it decided to abandon plans to force porn sites to introduce age verification. Instead, the job of better protecting children is left to parents. A new educational platform is being created that will teach guardians how to install software that restricts their children’s access to certain websites. However, it seems unlikely that this will remain the only limitation.
Not surprisingly, the loudest voices opposed to age verification include adult website owners and privacy activists. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based digital nonprofit, calls these tools “surveillance systems.” Aylo, the owner of adult entertainment websites including Pornhub and Brazzers, said he supported age verification but criticized its implementation.
“Pornhub is one of the few websites that complies with the new (Louisiana) law,” a company spokesperson said. “Since then, our traffic in Louisiana is down about 80%.” It recommended adding more controls for children’s devices rather than forcing platforms to check age.
But age verification isn’t limited to adult content. Late last year, Meta announced it was partnering with online age verification company Yoti to add its tools to its dating site. Amazon has rolled out a palm-based identity service to two Denver bars, allowing them to verify whether patrons are over the drinking age. It looks like this technology will become commonplace soon.
Age verification is a blunt tool. Online users won’t be keen on uploading a photo of their driving license or passport to visit a perfectly legal website. But the idea of protecting young children often attracts staunch support. Online privacy has become a myth and is about to take another hit.
elaine.moore@ft.com
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