Age Verification: What Adult Content Creators Need to Know

Adult content creators and others in the adult industry should continue to keep a close watch on the growing number of age verification laws being passed in states around the country.

According to the Free Speech Coalition, as of March 26, 2024, these laws are in effect in Arkansas, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, and other states are considering legislation.

While aimed at protecting minors from accessing adult content online by requiring users to prove they are at least 18 years old, free speech advocates worry that these age verification laws infringe on users’ constitutional rights and can open Pandora’s box of data privacy concerns.

Although these laws target websites where 33.33% or more of the content is considered harmful to minors, it’s still not clear how sites with a wide variety of user-generated content could be impacted. Search engines, news sites, and cloud storage sites appear to be exempt.

Websites that don’t comply with age verification laws could face large fines, and some states are considering the potential for criminal liability as part of their proposed legislation.

The Free Speech Coalition opposes these laws and has been tracking and fighting them dating back to Louisiana’s law which went into effect in 2022. Some believe Louisiana’s law started a national trend that’s gaining momentum in other states.

PornHub Blocks Users Access in Response to Age Verification Laws

Perhaps one of the most jarring impacts of age verification laws on users is PornHub’s recent decision to block users' access to their site in Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, and North Carolina.

In a statement, PornHub said, “While these new laws claim to protect children from accessing harmful material online – something we fully support – they not only fail to do this, but also jeopardize user safety and privacy.”

In the blocked states, adult content creators on PornHub who have already verified their identities using Yoti, a digital ID platform, are being redirected to a separate login that allows them to upload content. But surfers/website users in those blocked states are redirected to a video from adult performer Cherie Deville. She explains PornHub’s decision to block user access.

Age verification is nothing new for adult content creators. Websites that host or share that content require creators to use a government-issued ID showing their full name, birthdate, and a photo to prove they are 18 years old or older. That photo ID could be a driver’s license, a passport, or other national ID, containing sensitive and personally identifiable information.

Content creators comply with terms of service on adult websites that are implementing these requirements often in response to payment processors’ policies on sexually explicit content. But expanding these requirements to users who are asked to upload their information to third-party websites gets complicated.

Opponents of these laws cite concerns over data privacy, identify theft, and other mishandling of sensitive information. The Free Speech Coalition goes further, outlining that these laws don’t impact social media sites, for example, where children can most likely access adult content. They say these laws could encourage more pirated content on the web.

Is age verification the right solution? The Free Speech Coalition advocates for more parent controls and device-level filters which have been proven to keep adult content away from children online.

And how do adults feel about age verification overall? Age verification company Jumio conducted a survey of Americans last year and found that 62% of them would consider having a digital identity for verification across the web.

This percentage trails the country’s global peers and could speak to a long road ahead before there’s consensus for a national approach.