New laws (like in Texas) require consumers to upload their own photo ID to access adult sites.
“Why is that bad?”
Well…do you want to upload a picture of your ID to watch porn? Who are you comfortable with having access to that ID photo? Any website? The government?
“I don’t mind if the government has my ID for watching porn”
You should. What if you live in a more conservative state that decides to crack (heh) down on anal sex? Fun fact - 12 states still have anti-sodomy laws on the books.
And that’s tame - what if you watch gay porn in a state that wishes to ban gay marriage? Or you’re into something your conservative government feels is obscene?
What if the porn you watch starts to affect what jobs you can have? Or your credit?
“Yeah you’re right - I’m not uploading my ID, I’ll just go use a VPN or go elsewhere”
This is exactly what these laws are looking to do. An adult site in Russia doesn’t care about US law - they’ll happily steal content from US creators and host it on their side.
So now the consumer has two choices - either they can upload their ID, or go watch on a free tube site based outside of the US.
Guess which one the majority are going to do.
“Hey at least I can still watch porn without uploading my ID”
Except the problem is that all the porn that’s produced in the US has no way to make money. If no one is willing to undergo the requirements to legally access porn here, that effectively kills the business.
Think about it. If laws continue to make it more and more difficult (and they are), you’ll reach a threshold where the hassle isn’t worth it to the paying customer.
“But aren’t the age verification laws just to protect kids?”
Are they? The money backing these laws all stems from Christian right groups who aim to remove porn and sex work entirely. Project 2025 seeks to remove all porn, and criminalize anything that isn’t cis-heterosexual.
Read any number of articles on Texas and Pornhub - conservatives see the removal of porn as the win, the end goal. It has nothing to do with underage access.
These are the groups that wish to remove everything related to sex - books, photos, videos, products. Even sex-ed materials are under threat, as are the purveyors, from librarians to school teachers.
A reduction of access to information is a core tenet of fascism.