I've been dealing with this since last July when my state's law went into effect. In general, as long as you use a VPN it doesn't present a huge problem. However, not all sites deal with the issue the same way and that's where things get irritating. Here's an example:
Team Skeet - You don't even need to use a VPN to access the site. As long as you can provide the proper login credentials, you're in and can view to your heart's content.
Adulttime - You have to use a VPN. You are not given the opportunity to login even if you are a member. You get a screen that reads "To comply with local legislation, we must verify that all members are over eighteen (18) years old before accessing our extensive catalog of adult videos." You get two choices - exit or go through the age verification process.
Needless to say, the Adulttime protocol is pretty irritating. I'm a member but can't even see a login page unless I basically lie about where I'm located or go through the age verification process. I don't care if it's a simple process to do so - some random company is not going to get a look at my government ID. I suppose there are people under 18 who have credit cards -authorized users on Mom and Dad's card - but the fact that someone has joined with a credit card payment for the most part guarantees they are 18 or over. Presumably, AT has that information. And the under-18 kids with credit cards could join using that card, use a VPN and watch all the porn they want.
I understand the potential legal exposure companies face and different entities can have different levels of risk tolerance. The AT approach is a nuisance and there should be a more customer-friendly approach in how to comply with these stupid and ineffective laws.
Plus, I don't notice these politicians or groups who claim to be so interested in protecting children fighting so hard to block children from accessing violent content outside of porn. Have you noticed all the violence in the mainstream media and video games?
^ I think it was Sally Struthers who once said that if a movie shows a man slicing off a woman's nipple it gets a PG rating, but if it shows a man kissing a woman's nipple, it gets an X rating. So true, still today. If anything, as evangelical Christianity and the Republican Party (though they are one and the same now) increase in power, it's worse now, and going to continue getting worse.
The effect isn't causal, and that's part of the point. This has been proven in the scientific literature for many years. Violent video games, movies, and media don't cause people to be violent just like playing Dungeons and Dragons doesn't cause people to become satanists. People that are already violent play violent video games and seek out violent media. One doesn't cause the other.
Undoubtedly porn has effects on the minds of some young people, but I question if this legislation is the correct way to address that.
Is there also scientific literature on the effects of porn on the minds of young people? If not, how do we know whether there's a causal relationship here either? Can we say that watching porn doesn't cause people to be sexual, but people who already have sexual curiousities seek it out or get into it? I'm not saying to let minors access adult content, just seems like children are being used as pawns to promote puritanical agendas toward sexuality for everybody. If the problem is that minors are learning about sex from porn and porn is serving as a substitute for sex education, a solution can be increasing accurate sex education- focused on issues such as consent, decision-making, abstainance as an option, protection from STDs/STIs and unplanned pregnancy, healthy sexuality, etc. Yet, the same side leading the crusade against porn seems to be against sex ed too, and is fighting to ban scienfically accurate sex ed or any form at all.
I agree with most of what you are saying. I think that most of the scientific evidence the politicians are looking at is clinical rather than experimental. I doubt very much that a scientist would sit down 30 teenagers to view a porn and then have a control group of another 30 teenagers watching Spiderman: No Way Home and then measure their responses ... well maybe a scientist in Nigeria would...
The best resource I could find on the subject is here:
I noted there are a lot of "somes" and "cans" in this literature, but it mostly focuses on educating parents. And that is something I do agree with. Instead of passing legislation that will probably not be effective, let's educate the parents and get them to be responsible for their children.
Right, though there are other ways to research this than an experiment where the researcher has minors view porn. Instead, they can survey people on their already existing viewing patterns to gain of sense of why minors access such materials (compared to minors who don't and if there's a causal effect concerning behavior), and I'm guessing such research has been done on viewing patterns. After all, I keep hearing claims about the average age somebody first sees Internet porn, so how can they make this statistical claim if nobody research this. Where do the statistics come from otherwise? If there's no scientific research (with "scientific also including the social sciences) to back up the claim that porn has a causal effect, then claims that it does are nothing more than speculation or perhaps anecdotal.
Also in terms of scientific research, the best thing to do is read the original studies themselves and there are sites that post studies, such as Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC) or Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Alnybody who is a college faculty member or student should also have access to databases from the school library's webpages. Psychology Today is just a magazine where people may summarize research, so what you read there can be based on the author's interpretation or may leave some information out.
Speaking of experiments, there was a classic bobo doll experiment that found kids who observed an adult behaving violently toward the doll were more likely to copy this behavior than kids who saw an adult behaving more gently. This indicates that observing violence can shape behavior. Also, there are cases where even adults have copied violent or risky acts they saw in mainstream movies or video games. This may just be anecdotal and I don't know how typical it is. Plus, considering that it's so wrong for minors to access sexual content, I dont know why should it be any more acceptable for them to access video games such as Grand Theft Auto that enact murdering sex workers.
Regarding violent video games, do a little research on the origins of the ESRB. The government did go after video games. That's why video games have ratings. In a nutshell, E for Everyone. T for Teen. M for Mature. Also, a book titled Seduction of the Innocent, which lead to the formation of the CCA. This marked the end of the Golden Age of comic books. And look up Desantis and the Florida government's battles against Disney, as a result of Disney's opposition to the Don't Say Gay Bill. Ever heard the phrase "Woke Disney?"
It's all relevant. And it's all preposterous.
Again I'll reiterate. If they really were interested in preventing minors from seeing porn, they would be fighting against piracy. And porn isn't intended for, marketed to, or sold to kids. No one wants kids watching porn. Especially not the porn industry.
Yes, and porn videos also have ratings- X. Yet, they're going further than that with trying to ban porn. Are states or national governments requiring the same level of age verification to access video games rated M or just requiring people to click a disclaimer like adult websites already have been doing?
That said, even with increased age verfication for viewers, it pales in comparison to what performers and creators have needed to provide even before these stricter age verification laws for viewers. Viewers can just simply click a button to do a facial snapshot and get in within seconds unless other issues come up. However, as a live cam performer, I had to do much more than that. I had to scan and submit my ID front and back, take a picture of myself holding my ID and holding a sign saying my working name and date plus include myself in the picture (which I needed to do multiple times to get it all to show up correct), and submit forms. Yet, I realize it's not the same for performers and viewers. For viewers, it's entertainment or a hobby so they may be less willing to do less intensive age verification and the risk of it possibly leaking, identity theft, etc. However, with performers, it's our livelihood or part of our livelihood so the stakes are higher and we may be more in a position where we need to take the risk.
Plus, the stricter age verification laws can make some companies ban access all together in certain places, like what PinkLabel.tv did. Because stricter age verfication can't guarantee that minors won't access the site (only makes it harder), some companies aren't willing to risk the potential punishments. This can affect performers and content creators too because it is one of the sites where we can post our own independent content, though we can no longer do this if we're someplace where we can even access the site unless they have a separate link for verfied performers or content creators where we can get in without having to access they're site first.
Yes, I've heard about DiSantis's criticisms of Disney and how he uses word "woke" like a broken record non-stop to discredit opposition. However, has he tried to ban Disney? Point is the attacks and levels of censorship don't seem to be to the same level. I've written what woke actually means and why I'm unapologetically woke: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/501706435752772862/1852873165387813162 However, that's for another thread so I won't get to much into it here.
Tessa, The government did go after video games. Before the ESRB, when there were no ratings. The ESRB did change things. Retail stores stopped selling M rated games to minors. But that was roughly 30 years ago. Like other entertainment industries, physical media is quickly becoming more and more a thing of the past. If you think that KOSA and state level "age verification" don't target video games, you're very wrong. It affects everything on the internet and everyone who uses the internet.
I'm not arguing with you. I agree with a lot of your points. There is a double standard, and there is brazen and extreme discrimination against porn and other forms of SW.
Edited by - Pathos on 2/1/2024 12:24:59 AM
[Link]
Lezzyist Deactivated User
Make Porn Erotic Again 1736 Posts 9/19
Posted - Feb 1 2024 : 12:46AM
Someone is still going to come in and make an extremely pants-on-head stupid comment about how "leftists" and "radical feminists" etc are driving this stuff anyway because this is the internet, but here's another article on another Republican doing Republican anti-privacy antics, per usual:
How does this work? does that mean every site I go to with adult material, I have to give them my ID? Even sites like Reddit, Twitter, or some site with dirty fanfiction
It's kind of shocking to me that there's not more public discussion among entertainers and creatives in the industry about all subjects like this. Given everything that is happening day by day, porn seems like the next likely target certain groups I won't name to avoid offending folks. I've seen Siri Dahl and London River speaking on the topic but have noticed the majority of industry people have been silent. This is their livelihood I would hope they have been pooling money and have civil rights lawyers on retainer. I don't mind tough age restrictions but we all know that's not the endgame.
Some sites have chosen to protest by refusing access to residents of those states. So, you cannot enter the site. They offer no option to show your ID or buy a membership or such. You are just banned.
I live in an age verification state and have for the last couple of years. The way to deal with this without disclosing personal info is to use a VPN. My VPN allows me to determine where the connection is made. So let's say I live in Texas (I don't) but the VPN allows me to connect to Toronto. Problem solved. Just be sure when you're joining a site you are paying in U.S. dollars if you choose a connection outside the U.S.
I like porn and the Golden Age of Porn 1947 Posts 9/21
Posted - Sep 18 2025 : 11:35AM
why? because some of them voted for this and now are being silent. If they are speaking up now, it's only to show love to a fascist who "so-called" was for free speech. Now they're the ones taking away our free speech. Tommy Pistol is one performer speaking up. You're right, this is only the beginning. See Project 2025 for reference
You ask why Will, because we're supposed to learn from our mistakes, I'm aware there are many conservatives adult entertainers but they aren't blind. If they will shutdown two major late night tv shows and bring CBS & NBC to their knees do you think they will hesitate to shutdown Only Fans or Brazzers. Shocking how quickly people are willing to capitulate their rights away without speaking out or using collective power to change thingsEdited by - Kayfabe on 9/18/2025 9:38:40 PM
^ The "they" that got Colbert fired & Kimmel suspended is CBS & ABC respectively. The threatening entity in the Kimmel/ABC situation is the FCC which only has power with regard to broadcast media. It has nothing to do with Onlyfans, cable tv, Brazzers, etc.. Donald Trump has been POTUS going on 5 years. I have yet to see any threat to my ability to watch porn. Hey, maybe it is coming. With respect to this thread, the concept that we have to verify that we are at least 18 years of age to watch porn seems reasonable. Doesn't mean we shouldn't have concerns about how it is implemented.
I haven't looked for the thread, but there was another thread here discussing the (then) upcoming US federal election and its potential effects on the adult entertainment industry. Several of us were called out as being alarmists for pointing out that the Republican Party had adopted Project 2025 as their policy platform and that document specifically called for criminalizing porn. It seems like ancient history now, but the fact that the Republican Party is implementing other parts of Project 2025 with haste and glee, we'd be naive to think that they won't push the anti-porn agenda too. I don't think anyone, even us alarmists, could have seen the way the Republican Party is now treating free speech. Almost overnight, the Republican Party has gone from pretending to be free speech absolutists to talking about criminalizing speech that they don't like. In many cases they've cited, the offending speech is simply pointing out some things that Charlie Kirk said. Even saying "Charlie Kirk said X," and linking to a citation where he said it, is being called out as unacceptable.
Not to rehash the old thread, but I based a lot of my concern on the fact that the last resort to keep government in check is the Supreme Court but that court is no longer impartial and no longer follows precedent. It's six Republicans doing what their Dear Leader wants regardless of law, precedent and even the well-being of citizens. The originalist approach to law at that court is absurd. Many people aren't aware that the doctrine of originalism is relatively new - around 40 years old, and was developed and championed by, you guessed it, the Republican Party.
Even 20 years ago I felt that I would live to see the fall of the American Empire. (I'm now 59 years old.) But even up until several years ago I wouldn't have imagined that the fall would come so soon and so quickly. I also didn't think I'd see the US economy start to be structured along the same lines as the Communist Party of China (where private business is heavily influenced by government and toes the party line) or see American democracy devolve into what countries like Russia have. Sure, Americans will continue to have elections, but the outcome will be the Republican Party retaining control. If gerrymandering and voter suppression don't do the trick, then the election result will just be overtured by the Supreme Court. Or just ignored.
BTW - I place the blame on the Republican Party because I think that's where it belongs. Donald Trump and his ilk are just the natural progression of the Republican policies over the past several decades. You've got to give credit where credit is due, they played the long game and won.
RIP USA. It was a good run while it lasted.
Back on topic, I'm glad I have many terabytes of porn and that I don't live in the US so that my collection is safe.
I like porn and the Golden Age of Porn 1947 Posts 9/21
Posted - Sep 19 2025 : 12:15PM
"Pornography, manifested today in the omnipresent propagation of transgender ideology and sexualization of children, for instance, is not a political Gordian knot inextricably binding up disparate claims about free speech, property rights, sexual liberation, and child welfare. It has no claim to First Amendment protection. Its purveyors are child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women. Their product is as addictive as any illicit drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime. Pornography should be outlawed. The people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders. And telecommunications and technology firms that facilitate its spread should be shuttered." (Mandate for Leadership 2025, Page 5)
TBH ninja, it's not just some US states, now with Ofcom making AVS requirement to view porn in the UK & with so many states in the US, next is the EU, so the AV law will become worldwide, so logically, no porn site will continue to protest & all adult websites & social media will all become age verified to view adult content...
We've already added an AVS to my blog & official site, the tubes have simple to use AVS, so you don´t need to always show ID, just a facial clarification is sometimes possible to give full access, you login to an account with the AVS & then use this account to gain access to all the sites using the same verification system.
I like porn and the Golden Age of Porn 1947 Posts 9/21
Posted - Sep 22 2025 : 3:57AM
"facial clarification" sorry, but hell no, i'll just look at the gigs of porn on my SSD and my old DVDs. I don't know why people think we should just be ok with us.
^ I don't know that I would apply the "progressive" label to the US for at least the last decade. Yes, there have been some important progressive elements but overall, the US has been sliding more and more to the right for at least 40 years now. It's like the Republican Party has been playing a long game to move the US back to the 1950s or even earlier when white men ruled the country and everyone else took a backseat to them. There have been some big milestones along the way, such as the Citizens United case that was before the US Supreme Court back in 2010 (I think). The court said that money spent by corporations was equivalent to free speech for individuals. That was a major turning point for the US.
Since then, and especially after 2016, I'm surprised at how quickly the US is devolving away from being a modern democratic country. It looks more like a wealthy third-world dictatorship these days. (I recall reading a few years ago where a German tourist was asked about his impression of the United States after visiting there and he said, "It's the nicest third-world country I've ever been to.")
The Republican Party has been taken over by white Christian Evangelicals, many of whom are also white nationalists. The Republican Party controls the federal government and many state governments. The state governments are madly gerrymandering federal districts to guarantee a Republican win in the midterms next year.
A huge factor in the accelerated move to authoritarianism and Christian nationalism is the fact that the Republican Party now controls the US Supreme Court. They have been ignoring precedent and interpreting the Constitution along party lines rather than serving the citizenry. It's shameful. Plus, there is the absurd US legal doctrine called "originalism." Unlike every other Western democracy that views its constitution as a living document that gets interpreted in light of changing circumstances and ideas, the US Supreme Court decides what they think the long-dead founders of the country would have wanted. They sell this doctrine as being legitimate, but on something as important as gun rights, they have no problem saying that since the founding fathers didn't demand gun licenses in the 18th century, then you can't ask for them now, but they don't consider that in the 18th century, the firepower of the 21st century didn't exist.
I'm crossing the border into the US on Thursday and while I've done that many times before, this feels different. I've cleaned out all my emails, including sent mail and trash, I've cleaned out my browser history on my tablet because it shows I've been watching Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel. That's not enough to get me shipped off to a prison in El Salvador, but it's probably enough to have me barred from entering the country. I can say with almost complete certainty that this will be my last time visiting the US. I don't think things are going to get better. In fact, I think things are going to get worse. A lot worse.
I was on a trio of affiliated sites today that feature rough BDSM: Assylum, Slave Mouth, and Dom the Nation. If you're familiar with them, they are quite extreme, even for BDSM. The newer scenes with models like Rebel Rhyder, Nuria Millan, and Silvia Soprano are far more extreme than the sites used to have. I noticed that all three sites now have a notice that residents of Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Oregon, and Utah can't sign up. It's not about proving you're 18+, but you can't join.
I presume that the site owner gotten some legal advice and made that call.
I'm not an American and maybe this isn't unusual, but I was a bit surprised to see Oregon on the list. I figured that as a blue state not overrun with religious nutjobs that they wouldn't have laws against BDSM.
On the other hand, I was also a bit surprised that the list doesn't include more southern red states where white evangelical Christianity is pretty much in charge.
Can't say for sure, but it looks to me like the "OR" in the ad is the word "or" not an abbreviation for Oregon. All of those other states are indeed in the "bible belt" except Utah, which is Mormon Country.
I'm guessing this didn't pass, since it they tried to run it through last September. It could have been just a show piece. Sometimes politicians will run in puritan platforms and introduce legislation like this to show their voters "they tried."
Isn't Utah the reason the cable industry collectively settled on softcore as the standard for Adult Pay Per View content? I swear I've read somewhere that back in the 80's Utah had more restrictive rules about obscenity than any other state and the cable industry just decided it was easier limit explicit content than it was to make it unavailable in one state or risk getting prosecuted. That's why for decades Playboy / Spice / Extasy was only a brief step above Skinemax and never showed close up penetration or genitals.
