The Scam of Age Verification (in Viewing Porn)

Note that there has never been any credible evidence that site-level AV works either (especially when done selectively, like it has), while there have been countless warnings and demonstrations that it doesn’t.

Everywhere AV has been implemented, we’ve seen the same pattern: a handful of large porn sites are targeted (usually, us and Pornhub) — sometimes with a few token smaller sites — and that’s it.

The one and only so-called “argument” in favor of AV is that it’s been used for gambling and other restricted services, so it could be applied to porn. But that comparison is dishonest: on a gambling or merchant site, users already expect to submit personal data — credit card info, name, phone number, address. They are paying for something.

On a free site, users do not expect to hand over private data. They simply refuse — and move on to other sites. Why wouldn’t they?

AV is instantly and effortlessly circumvented: porn remains accessible through search engines, social media, messaging apps, file-sharing (direct and peer-to-peer), VPNs, proxies, and an astronomical number of adult sites — it’s conservative to estimate there are over a million. Some users might even be tempted to turn to the dark web to escape this wave of state overreach — though we certainly don’t recommend it.

Not only is porn still available from all these channels — but the largest, most obvious mainstream platforms that host or link to porn are systematically exempted or spared enforcement.

That alone should make anyone question the real motivations behind these regulations. We’re told it’s about protecting children — but the sites most known and most used by children, and which host porn, are conveniently untouched?

What will happen?

We’ll have to implement AV wherever it is legally mandated. It’s not like we have a choice. Legal challenges were our only option — but now, even the courts have been swept up in the hysteria.

The largest established adult sites, such as ours, will be immediately destroyed.

We know that only about 10% of the user base will remain after AV is implemented — and the 10% who stay (thanks, by the way) are very costly to verify.

So much so that we expect to operate at a financial loss.

This will completely distorts competition, as our visitors will switch to various other sites and services that did nothing to earn them. Preserving fair competition is one of the obligations of most states — but they simply don’t give a fuck about it. Right now, there are almost 3,000 (not an exaggeration) clones of our sites — not owned by us, but designed to look like our platforms, sometimes with a different makeover — stealing our content, and soon to be massively rewarded.

Regulators have no clue where people will go — but what’s likely is that users will scatter across so many sites, apps, proxies, and channels that they’ll become untraceable, guaranteeing the failure of future regulations. And unlike today, many of those new destinations will be dangerous, unmoderated, and openly hostile to enforcement.

People will massively move to VPNs (some of them are permanently free but with with slower speeds). You'd think it would absorb some of the losses, but VPNs nowadays integrate ad-blocking features, effectively ripping off content creators and us. Concretely, VPNs are pushing us even further in the negative.

Adult companies are already treated as barely tolerated, second-class entities, and every form of unfair treatment and discrimination has long been prevalent — in banking, for example. Digital exclusion through regulation was already a reality for adult sites — but AV will deepen this unequal treatment, pushing them out through reputational and compliance burdens.

So it will become impossible for any large, free adult platform to exist. This very business model is driven to extinction.

A new landscape will emerge — devoid of established, safe, and large adult sites where legitimate content creators can showcase their work and be rewarded for it. They will be penalized along with us.

THE SCAM

Let’s be clear: AV enforcement has always targeted porn companies only.

What’s going on is obvious: “protecting children” is a false pretense. AV is being used to attack porn and those who watch it. It was never about children. It was always driven by anti-porn crusaders and control-obsessed ideologues.

These same people pretend to stand on a moral high ground, while lying through their teeth about their true intentions.

Citing “child protection” is an effective tactic to silence critics. If you oppose AV — even for sound, technical reasons — you’re immediately hit with emotional blackmail and cheap outrage.

Another “argument” we hear commonly to defend AV is: “At least we’re doing something.”

Yes — something ineffective, destructive, and stupid. Passing laws that don’t work, wasting everyone’s time, wrecking legitimate businesses and killing competition — all so some politician, bureaucrat, or activist can pose as a force for good.

We are the sacrificial lamb of this story — the scapegoat in a very bad political play.

We — and our content creators — are being sacrificed for nothing. User privacy is being sacrificed for nothing. Children and adults will actually be less safe after we are gone.

Announcements about Site-based AV give parents the illusion that their kids are protected — when in reality, nothing changes. Porn will still be everywhere.

It’s an absolute joke — a placebo solution pushed by imbeciles who clearly don’t give a shit about minors.

Device-level parental controls have existed for years, and can actually block a million sites. But politicians can’t take credit for them. So instead of empowering parents, lawmakers give them a headline and a false promise.

Watch these pricks go on TV or social media and pat themselves on the back for “making the internet safer” — while anyone can still run a basic Google search and instantly find billions of porn images. Bold-faced liars.

The one “good” thing about AV is that it’s a clear sign of political incompetence. If your lawmakers passed this kind of law, you can be sure they’re either corrupt, lying to you, stupid — or some combination of all three. At least it makes them easier to spot.

It might make some sense — even if we’d still disagree (because there are better solutions, see below) — to enforce AV on major mainstream platforms to prevent accidental exposure to porn. But the hypocrites in charge are systematically and deliberately sparing those platforms.

Why don't they enforce on the other side of the camera? I still see underaged, hairless twinks posting videos.

I feel bad for them because this is like the least of our problems now. Sucks for them.