With age verification and the overall decriminalization of the internet, these are issues that almost everyone now faces, but especially those who are politically disinclined. Sex workers have long struggled with issues such as online censorship and surveillance. One objective of Project 2025, MAGA’s playbook for President Trump’s second term, is to impose a “backdoor” national ban on porn through state laws.
The current increase in child protection laws around the world is driving a significant change in the way people connect with the internet, and is also impacting industries beyond porn, including gaming and social media. Children under 16 will be locked out of Facebook, Instagram and Threads in Australia as per the government’s social media ban from December 10.
After all, Stabile says that may be the point. In the US, “supporters of these bills are broadly divided into two groups: faith-based organizations that do not believe adult content should be legal, and age verification providers that stand to profit from a restricted Internet.” He says that faith-based organizations aim to destabilize the adult industry and deter adults from using it, while the latter work to expand their market as much as possible, “even if it means going to bed with right-wing censors.”
But the problem is that “even the well-intentioned legislators pushing these bills have very little understanding of the Internet,” Stabile says. “It’s much easier to go after a political punching bag like Pornhub than it is to go after Apple or Google. But if you’re not addressing the reality of the Internet, if your legislation flies in the face of consumer behavior, you’ll only create systems that will fail.”
Adult industry insiders I spoke to in August told me the biggest misconception about the industry is that it is averse to self-regulation, when that couldn’t be further from the truth. “Keeping minors away from adult sites is a shared responsibility that requires a global solution,” KKC says. “Every phone, tablet or computer should start out as a kid-safe device. Only verified adults should unlock access to things like dating apps, gambling or adult content.” In 2022, Pornhub created a chatbot that urged people searching for child sexual abuse material to seek counseling; The tool was introduced in 2020 following a New York Times investigation that alleged the platform monetized videos depicting child abuse. Pornhub has since begun releasing annual transparency reports and tightened its verification process for performers and video uploads.
According to Politico, Google, Meta, OpenAI, Snap and Pinterest all supported the California bill. Right now the law is limited to California, but KKC believes it could serve as a template for other states.
“We clearly see that there is a way forward here,” she says.