This photograph taken on May 24, 2022, in Toulouse, shows screens displaying a minor child sign and the logo of the pornographic site Pornhub.
New legislation in Utah now requires pornographic websites to include procedures to verify the age of their users.
As of Wednesday, May 3, a new state law went into effect to obligate adult websites to check the ages of their visitors. This makes Utah the next state to implement an age verification law to protect minors from the proliferation of sexually explicit content available online.
"It's part of our job as a society - and maybe a subset of my job as a lawmaker - to try to protect children," said state Senator Todd Weiler, a Republican who sponsored the proposal. "I don't think it's helpful when a kid is forming their impressions of sex and gender to have all of this filth and lewd depictions on their mind."
Rules on Filters and Age Verification
Current federal law makes it illegal to display minors' pornography. However, this prohibition is seldom enforced.
According to AP News, this new rule is part of a larger trend among legislators to limit young people's access to the internet and social media in an attempt to curb their exposure to inappropriate content.
It follows the passage of a similar law in Louisiana within the past year and the consideration of similar policies for adult websites implemented by other states.
Filters and age verification are "complementary efforts" to reduce young people's exposure to pornography, according to Dr. Eleanor Gaetan of the anti-porn National Center on Sexual Exploitation.
She said that a "groundswell of parents," including those who have spoken in statehouses within the nation and in front of the U.S. Congress, has contributed significantly to the increase in anti-porn sentiment in recent years.
She predicted that the trend would go on since the damages were quite real. "These kids can't unsee what they see."
Criticism From Lobbying Groups
Although supported by conservatives, the anti-sex political movement that includes age verification laws has been criticized by adult-oriented websites.
They have also been met with resistance from the likes of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and other digital privacy and free speech advocacy organizations. The coalition claimed earlier this year that websites are unlikely to erase user data even if age verification rules mandate it.
This week, one of the most popular adult websites, Pornhub, temporarily disabled access to its content in defiance of the law. Since Monday, May 1, Utah residents who have tried to access the site have been met with a "Dear User" letter and video from adult film actor Cherie DeVille.
The letter reads: "Giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users. The best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device."
The letter states that until a viable solution is provided, Pornhub will fully suspend access in Utah owing to the legislation.
