Florida is introducing new age verification requirements for platforms hosting pornographic material.This is very similar to the law that prompted Pornhub to exit Texas earlier this month.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed on Monday, House Bill 3 (HB 3) Online platforms distributing sexually explicit material are required to verify that their users are over 18 years of age. The new law will take effect on January 1 next year and failure to comply could result in fines of up to $50,000 per violation.
Children under 14 now banned from using social media in Florida
The legislation will affect online platforms where more than a third of content is pornographic material. Such websites must offer both “anonymous” and “standard” identification methods, and users can choose the one they prefer.
Under HB 3, age verification methods are considered anonymous if performed by a non-governmental third party. Once a user’s age has been confirmed, these verification third parties are not permitted to retain the user’s personally identifiable information and must anonymize such information. Still, it’s unlikely to make users feel better.
The standard approach eliminates this third party and the porn platform checks the user’s ID directly.
Pornhub calls Florida’s age verification method[puts] User safety is at risk”
Although Pornhub has yet to make any announcements, HB 3 will likely prompt the popular adult entertainment platform to exit Florida.The state enacts a new age verification law weeks later Pornhub Banned in Texasin response to a U.S. appeals court ruling overturning an injunction against a similar law in Texas.
Like HB 3, Texas House Bill 1181 (HB 1181) Require sites hosting pornographic content to verify users’ age, forcing the use of methods such as seeing government-issued identification or verification by a third party.
While Pornhub said it agreed with the age verification requirement, the company argued that the specific system specified violated “adults’ rights to access protected speech.” Instead, Pornhub believes that on-device age verification will be a safer and more effective way to prevent underage users from accessing inappropriate content.
In addition to this solution, Pornhub chose Completely block Texas IPs Rather than collecting users’ identifiable information.
“Unfortunately, Texas’ age verification laws are ineffective, arbitrary, and dangerous,” Pornhub wrote in a notice to Texas users. “Not only will it not truly protect children, it will inevitably reduce the ability of content creators to publish and distribute legitimate adult content and directly impact their ability to share the artistic messages they want to convey.”
Given this stance, it seems only a matter of time before Florida is banned as well. Pornhub’s Texas ban is just the latest in a series of state bans, including North Carolina, Montana, Utah, Louisiana, Arkansas, mississippi and virginia. The site’s parent company, Aylo, has blocked other adult platforms in those states for the same reason, including Brazzers, YouPorn and RedTube.
In a statement to Mashable, an Aylo spokesperson said it was “aware of the passage of Florida’s HB 3 law,” but declined to explicitly confirm whether its website would be pulled from the state.
“Any regulation that would require hundreds of thousands of adult websites and all social media to collect vast amounts of highly sensitive personal information violates the privacy rights of law-abiding citizens and puts user security at risk,” the spokesperson said. “We hope that, in “Before this ill-conceived and poorly drafted law takes effect, the administration will recognize that similar copycat laws in other states, such as Texas and several others before it, are ineffective.”
If Aiello’s hopes prove to be in vain, it’s likely that thousands of hungry Texans will soon find themselves actively researching VPN.
Checking porn IDs isn’t HB 3’s only mission.The legislation will also Limit children’s access to social mediapreventing children 13 and under from having an account.