Small Porn Producers Will Be Hurt Most by New Age Verification Laws – By Jessica Stoya (Reason) / June 16, 2023
New mandates in states like Utah and Virginia will lock in large incumbents like PornHub while discouraging positive trends and self-regulation in the industry.
For the first time in history, performers have the bulk of power in the porn industry. But a wave of laws requiring specific forms of age verification for viewers of websites that depict or discuss sexuality is threatening to wipe out small studios and solo self-producers.
This legislative trend started in 2022 with Louisiana’s Act 440, which requires websites containing more than 33.3 percent “material harmful to minors” to engage in age verification processes for each site user. The act features phrases familiar to those of us who work with sexuality, such as “prurient interest” and “lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” These phrases are vague and subjective, as is the language describing which age verification mechanisms are acceptable to the state. Similar laws followed in Utah, Mississippi, Arkansas, Virginia, Montana, and Texas. Other countries, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, have also developed legal requirements for consumer age verification.
Most of my adult industry colleagues, including legal representatives of studios, declined to be named or to speak at all for this piece. Some cited fears of retaliation, while others expressed reluctance to go on the record during a time of immense industry upheaval.
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