Check out these numbers:
- Since January 1, VPN usage in Florida has increased by 1,150%.
- In May 2023, VPN usage in Utah surged 967%.
- In late March 2024, VPN usage in Texas jumped 238%.
What’s behind these staggering numbers? Are there bands of freedom fighters struggling against oppression and censorship who’ve turned to electronic solutions to continue their struggle for justice?
Of course not. It’s porn.
On January 1, a new law went into effect in Florida which requires age verification for access to porn web sites. Providers who don’t comply could be hit with fines of up to $50,000 per violation.
These laws are becoming very popular and are on the books now in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia.
Providers such as PornHub have responded by blocking access to users in those states. According to their statement, these laws are not just “click here if you’re 18, click here if you’re not” sorts of things where visitors self-attest. Porn providers are required to gather information such as driver’s licenses to prove age.
I have not read all 30 pages of Florida’s law, much less all the others, but I believe technically, the law does not require obtaining copies of ID docs, but the penalties are so severe that any sane provider will need to have a robust defense and so they would need them. If the state comes and says “Johnny saw naked ladies on your site”, the site has to prove that johnny_mother_lover@yahoo.com proved to the site that he’s 18. Absent this proof, it’s a hefty fine.
Privacy and Such
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that 99% of porn viewers don’t want the fact that they view porn public. Certainly, they don’t want iron-clad documented evidence (including their picture) stored on RandomPornSite.com so that when RPS is invariably hacked, there’s a leaked database showing that John Smith at 123 Main Street likes to view videos of middle-aged diapered men being spanked by redheaded Nazis.
Signing up for a porn account isn’t like signing up for Amazon or Spotify. If someone hacks my account at online music retailer Sweetwater, they’ll be able to see which guitar pedals I’ve bought and what kind of acoustic strings I like. There’d be the usual identify theft hassles, but I would suffer no long-term reputational damage. I’m not going to be held up for ridicule or blackmail because I bought Ernie Ball patch cables, nor will my wife divorce me.
How many 18 year olds gazing at NSFW will run for congress in 20 years and drop out of the race soon after once someone looks them up in a leaked database?
That also puts a huge compliance burned on PornHub and others. If I’ve got a database that says “johnny” and a password, who cares. If it’s a database full of people’s scanned driver’s licenses, then I’m going to get in huge trouble if it leaks.
The Internet Interprets Censorship as Damage and Routes Around It
Yeah yeah, we’ve all heard that old adage. In this case, getting around these laws is trivial. In fact, this new law is inflationary: porn viewers are now going to need to pay for a VPN.
But if I’m mistaken, a VPN doesn’t actually change things. If I’m a Florida resident and I go to PornHub and view porn, PH is still providing porn to me without age verification. Why can’t the state simply do a sting operation where some officer signs up and connects via a VPN. The law doesn’t say “unless you use a VPN”.
But anyway, it kind of makes you wonder why lawmakers bother. I’m going to go out on a limb again and guess than 99% of would-be porn consumers in the Sunshine State are going to get a VPN rather than submit their PII to porn sites. Indeed, for PornHub and probably others, they have no other choice.
Well, not entirely true. They could:
- Use porn services which don’t care, and I’m sure there are many. If I’m running TentacleHentai.com and I’m based in Lowendistan, I am probably not worried that the state of Florida is going to sue me.
- Torrent porn which is ripped off from various sites.
Seems like all lawmakers is accomplishing is educating the public on how to use VPNs and BitTorrent.
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I also enjoy using LEBs! I have an empire of little guys for VPNs, larger guys for apps, and big guys for databases and storage. When I'm not in front a screen I'm into German Shepherd dogs, quality knives, target shooting, theology, tabletop roleplaying games, and forest hiking.
I enjoy writing technical articles here on LowEndBox to help people get more out of their systems. You can find me on LowEndTalk @raindog308
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