© Unsplash/Franco Alva
For several months (even years) pornographic sites have been in the sights of legal entities. If the latter have been in the crosshairs of Arcom for a while, it is not only in France that adult entertainment sites are singled out.
Indeed, some American states now require user age verification to protect minor Internet users. In the absence of a viable solution in their eyes, Pornhub and other similar sites from the Aylo group (formerly MindGeek) are simply no longer accessible in Montana and North Carolina. Happy New Year!
Always looking for a “real solution” to protect minors
In France or the United States, the problem is the same. It is necessary to protect minor users from accessing pornographic content. Today, a simple click generally allows the Internet user to confirm that they are indeed over 18 years old. Even if that's not the case. A system for verifying the age of users is requested, even required in certain states. But no viable solution has been found so far.
Louisiana tried to require the presentation of identification before accessing a pornographic site. The observation is bitter. The giant Aylo (formerly MindGeek), which owns Pornhub, Redtube and Youporn, saw its traffic plummet by 80%. Thus, the group preferred to block access to its sites for residents of Montana and North Carolina. These two states have deployed new age verification measures since January 1, 2024.
According to Aylo, having to present an identity document each time a user wants to go to an adult platform is not the most effective solution to protect them. “In reality, this could endanger the children and your privacy” can be read on the home page of the Brazzers site when connecting from Montana . The giant is leaning towards a device-based verification system to access sites that require it.
Sites like xHamster have opted for biometric verification of user identities using the third-party service Yoti. But Pornhub's parent company doesn't like it. It seems that until Aylo wins its case regarding the age verification system for its users, Internet users in Montana and North Carolina will have to do without Pornhub, Brazzers, Redtube or even Youporn… Unless you use a VPN. Since the laws were announced, online searches for VPNs have tripled in North Carolina and Montana according to Google Trends.
European Internet users, and particularly French ones, are not immune from undergoing similar treatment in the coming months. The Aylo group has already mentioned the possibility of withdrawing all its sites from the French market rather than seeing them blocked by Arcom.
- Pornhub and other pornographic sites are no longer accessible in Montana and North Carolina
- Without a sufficiently secure solution in the eyes of the group Aylo, Internet users from these States will no longer be able to visit its sites
- The problem is the same in France
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