| January 04, 2023 |
2023’s Rough Start: La. Age Verification Law, Pineapple Support Twitter Ban |
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It’s 2023. Already, the adult entertainment industry is experiencing a high degree of limitation and challenges as the new year enters full steam. From new laws entering force to shadow bans on social media networks, it’s safe to say 2023 is off to a very rough start. These are two highlights from the last few days since New Year’s Day. Government Identification Required to Jerk Off in the Pelican State On Jan. 1, the state of Louisiana saw a new law go into effect that requires online web publishers to conduct age verification checks if the content on their site is more than a third (33.3%) pornographic content. That means major tube sites like MindGeek-owned Pornhub and Hammy Media-owned xHamster must require site visitors with IP addresses in Lousiana to verify their age with a digital wallet app that the state government allows residents to use for driver’s licenses. The digital wallet app is called LA Wallet, which is developed by a company that received legal justification from a digital driver’s license app law that was passed by the state legislature a few years ago. Samantha Cole for Vice News wrote that other popular adult sites have yet to institute age checks with government-issued identification for Louisiana users. Hello from the surveillance state of Louisiana. People in Louisiana have to use their drivers license to go to pornhub. This is truly wild. Under his eye. https://t.co/uji6Jo3Tde pic.twitter.com/pVKEeVcCGw — Public Defendering (@fodderyfodder) January 2, 2023 Adult content sites that don’t have age verification measures can now be sued for legal damages as a result of a minor’s apparent access to such content, according to the law. House Bill 142 was introduced by state Rep. Laurie Schlegel (R-Matairie) and subsequently passed through the divided state government, and signed into law by Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. Rep. Schlegel is a notorious far-right religious anti-porn activist and faith-based therapist. When she is not working on far-reaching legislation, she is treating patients who struggle with so-called “porn addiction.” As an aside, porn addiction or any variation of it is viewed as quackery by mainstream psychology. The inanity of this law! Not only is porn easily blockable with a device level filter (adult sites voluntarily register with block lists like RTA), but the Supreme Court has long-held that blocking adults' access to legal content is unconstitutional. https://t.co/WCPdUhFWjQ — Mike Stabile (@mikestabile) January 3, 2023 Mike Stabile, the director of public affairs for the Free Speech Coalition, posted to his Twitter that he viewed this law as insane and very unconstitutional. He points out that “porn (is) easily lockable with a device level filters” that are very easy to access. Not to mention, despite the insinuations of the Lousiana law and its far-right religious advocates, adult industry sites voluntarily register with block lists like the Restricted to Adults program that is sponsored by the nonprofit, adult industry-backed Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection. “Not that the law is going to actually prevent kids from accessing porn,” writes Tim Cushing, a staff writer for civil libertarian Techdirt.com. “Plenty of porn can be found on sites not subject to the law. And plenty of porn can be easily accessed even with a state mandate in place… Itâs all a bunch of performative stupidity that, at best, will encourage stupid, performative people to file stupid, performative lawsuits.” Pineapple Support Society Banned on Twitter Pineapple Support was reportedly banned from Twitter, the group’s founder and chief executive officer Leya Tanit lamented. The #PineappleSupport Twitter account has been permanently suspended. We are doing all we can to reinstate it. — Leya Tanit (@LeyaTanit) January 2, 2023 Pineapple Support provides free and subsidized mental health services to adult content creators and professionals. 2023 photo by Engin Akyurt of Pexels |
