As technology evolves and legislation tries to stay relevant, the safety of kids on the internet is a conversation of critical importance. But for adult residents in Utah, the conversation is preventing them from accessing one of the most prolific streaming sites on the web -- adult entertainment platform PornHub.
PornHub has forsaken the residents of Utah in protest over a new state law that requires all users to verify their age before accessing adult entertainment sites. Talk about a personal-data horror story in the making.
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Now, users who try to access the site instead get a public service announcement from adult film megastar Cherie DeVille about the ineffectiveness of the new law. According to DeVille, the new measures taken by the state's government still won't keep kids from accessing pornography.
"Like every adult performer I know, I want zero -- and I mean, zero -- minors watching my content," DeVille writes in an op-ed for Rolling Stone. "It’s called adult content for a reason. We create ... entertainment for consenting adults."
DeVille lays out exactly why the law won't be effective. "VPNs allow users to change the location of their IP address," she says. "Anyone with a teenage relative knows kids use them. Teens can evade Utah’s ID requirements in seconds."
For those working in the industry, safeguarding adult content from underage eyes is a major priority. "Porn giants don’t want kids on their platforms because it’s bad for business," she writes. And the solution to PornHub's problem could be the key to solving a slew of concerns about kids using the internet.
"We need smartphones and computers specifically created for minors which block all forms of adult content," DeVille proposes, "not just porn."
