Last Update: May 04, 2023, 04:12 AM IST
US states are increasingly going out of their way to regulate online activity, with national legislation all but blocked in a divided Washington. (Image: Pornhub Twitter)
Google data showed searches for VPN access increased in the state, becoming the most popular search item in Utah in the hours after the law went into effect
Internet workaround searches skyrocketed in the western US state of Utah on Wednesday after adult streaming powerhouse Pornhub blocked access over a new age verification law.
MindGeek, the Luxembourg-based company that owns Pornhub, pulled the plug on Tuesday in protest of a Utah law that requires visitors to the site to prove their age with a government-issued ID.
Google data showed that searches for VPN access increased in the state, becoming the most popular search item in Utah in the hours following the law’s implementation.
In a video defending Pornhub’s decision, adult film actress Cherie DeVille stated that “handing over your ID card every time you want to visit an adult forum is not the most effective way to protect our users.”
“In fact,” she said, it would “endanger the children and your privacy.”
Pornhub is instead promoting “device-based verification”, where users can guarantee their age via their smartphone, computer or tablet.
US states are increasingly going out of their way to regulate online activity, with national legislation all but blocked in a divided Washington.
In 2016, Utah called pornography a public health crisis, and in February introduced verification legislation to give porn the same restrictions it does with the purchase of alcohol or cigarettes.
Another Utah law passed in March requires children to obtain parental consent to use social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram.
The market leader in internet porn has faced mounting backlash since the publication of an article in the New York Times in December 2020, which accused Pornhub of hosting illegal content online, including child pornography and rape videos.
This led lawmakers in Canada, where MindGeek is headquartered, to grill officials about the alleged abuses, while Mastercard and Visa suspended payments on Pornhub. Its top officials resigned in June 2022.
Canadian private equity firm Ethical Capital Partners announced the purchase of beleaguered MindGeek in March.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
