America’s state lawmakers are passing ineffective anti-porn laws
“Is anyone else’s Pornhub not working?” tweeted the mischievous grey-haired grandma and state senator L. Louise Lucas of Virginia on June 30th. Mrs Lucas knew that the website would stop working for her and millions of Virginians that weekend. Virginia, along with Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana, passed a law this year requiring users to prove they are an adult before accessing pornographic websites. Arkansas, Montana and Texas have similar policies that will go into effect over the coming months.
Supporters of these laws claim that they will protect children. “This is about not putting children in harm’s way,” says William Stanley, junior, a Virginia state senator and the bill’s author. There is just one problem: the laws do not seem to work.
Lawmakers hoping to stop minors from watching pornography face several obstacles. First, porn enthusiasts of all ages seem intent on getting around the new laws. The day before Virginia’s policy went into effect on July 1st, interest in the search term “VPN” (a virtual private network allows users to appear as if they are watching outside a state with age-verification laws) spiked in Virginia.
2023-07-13 07:58:53
Original from www.economist.com
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