NORFOLK, Va. — Virginians will no longer have access to one of the most popular websites in the world.
A message was posted to the pornography website Pornhub Thursday, alerting users to the ban.
A video of adult film star Cherie Deville reading the message was posted, which says in part, “Until a real solution is offered, we’ve made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in your region.”
The move is a response to a new law going into effect in the Commonwealth Saturday.
It requires pornography websites to verify the age of their users before allowing them to browse their sites.
The lawmaker who sponsored the bill calls it a way to mitigate the “epidemic” of children exposed to pornography online.
But Pornhub says the law does the opposite.
In the message posted to its site, the company argues it puts children and user’s privacy more at risk, claiming the new restrictions just drive people to other sites with “far fewer safety measures in place.”
The law requires porn sites to access government-issued identification electronically, something Pornhub says leaves users’ personal data vulnerable to hackers.
In the statement, the company also says the law doesn’t make it clear how age verification requirements will be enforced.
They’re asking for a different solution, requesting that users be identified by their device instead of a government-issued ID.
According to the Free Speech Coalition, similar laws in Louisiana and Utah haven’t been enforced.
The full message from Pornhub.com:
Dear user,
As you may know, your elected officials in Virginia are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.
In addition, mandating age verification without proper enforcement gives platforms the opportunity to choose whether or not to comply. As we’ve seen in other states, this just drives traffic to sites with far fewer safety measures in place. Very few sites are able to compare to the robust Trust and Safety measures we currently have in place. To protect children and user privacy, any legislation must be enforced against all platforms offering adult content.
The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns. We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification. Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Virginia.
Please contact your representatives before it is too late and demand device-based verification solutions that make the internet safer while also respecting your privacy.”