Utah completely shut off from popular adult website following new digital laws
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story erroneously credited two bills passed in the Utah legislature this past session dealing with social media companies and their policies around children.
Utah legislation spearheaded by Gov. Spencer Cox had an almost immediate affect on Utahns who visit the popular adult-content website, Pornhub.com.
Just six weeks after SB 287 was signed into law, anyone inside Utah's borders trying to view content on the adult-video-aggregate website PornHub found they had been locked out. The reason, according to a statement from the site, was the legislation Cox signed in March, targeting online adult platforms and their underage users.
The new legislation places the onus squarely on adult-oriented digital companies to verify those permissions.
Internet companies seeking to verify permissions could require legal documentation to prove that users are as old as they say they are. It could even require websites to design Utah-specific features into their apps and sites in order to comply with the state's new rules.
Similar circumstances played out in 2016, when the state declared pornography to be a public health crisis.
Resulting legislation required adult websites to include disclaimers on the potential harms of pornography, which users within the Beehive State boundaries have to acknowledge before being allowed access.
PREVIOUS REPORTS: Porn Declared Health Crisis in Utah
- Gov. Herbert signs declaration that porn is public health crisis
- Penthouse targets Utah for declaring porn health crisis, Herbert named on cover
- Growing number of states follow Utah to call porn a public health crisis
- Utah no longer alone as GOP platform draft declares pornography 'public health crisis'
- Salt Lake Co. Health Department announces 'porn vaccine' on April Fools' Day
- Utah's porn 'health crisis': 4 years later, youth are still vulnerable
"The very least we can do as a society is to ask companies to verify the age of those viewing the pornography they produce and distribute," Cox said in a statement to 2News. "This unanimous, bipartisan legislation provides multiple ways to satisfy that requirement."
Pornhub.com, where Utah's public health crisis warning is displayed each time an individual visits the site, said verifying age doesn't - and shouldn't - have to require users to hand over even more of their personal information.
The company shut off access to to PornHub.com for all Utahns on May 1, even those whose ages had been verified when they purchased subscriptions. PornHub's social media account was directing paying customers in Utah to its billing department for information on refunds as users found some out-of-the-ordinary content on the site Monday.
Anyone in Utah attempting to access PornHub.com is now redirected to a statement, read by a fully-clothed adult film actor in a technically safe-for-work Vimeo video.
MORE: Utah's Pursuit to Protect Children
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- Utah lawmaker to introduce new bill on federal social media ban for teens under 16
- Utah lawmaker's social media bill no longer includes ban on users under 16
- New law requires parental permission for children to use social media in Utah
- Utah Legislature passes bills regulating social media companies
- Senator has tough words for tech as committee approves new social media rules for kids
- Impact of social media on mental health disorders among children in Utah
In it, the actor reads a statement urging users to contact lawmakers about the new law, saying that providing more personal information online doesn't make the internet safer - it only puts that information at risk and drives users to websites with fewer safety measures.
The website stated identifying a user's age using that person's device would be safer and more accurate, and it wouldn't require people to turn over their driver's licenses each time they logged on to an adult site.
PornHub's ultimate message boiled down to a basic point: Unless Utah makes an adjustment to its law, viewers would have to find their adult content elsewhere.
"In Utah, we care about our kids," Cox said in his statement to 2News. "The vast majority of Utahns would agree that companies should be held responsible for knowingly distributing pornography to minors."
The governor added that he and the porn website were in total agreement on one point.
"I fully support PornHub's decision to remove their content in Utah," his statement concluded.
PornHub's statement to users in Utah
Hi, I'm Sharita Bell. As you may know your elected officials have required us to verify your age before granting you access to our website. While safety and compliance are at the Forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting users, and in fact will put children and your privacy at risk.
In addition, mandating age verification without proper enforcement gives platforms the opportunity to choose whether or not to comply. As we've seen in other states, this just drives traffic to sites with far fewer safety measures in place, very few sites are able to compare to the robust trust and safety measures we currently have in place.
In order to protect children and user privacy, any legislation must be enforced against all platforms offering adult content. The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns, however, the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age restricted materials and websites based on that identification.
Until a real solution is offered. We've made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in your region. Please contact your representatives and demand device-based verification solutions that make the internet safer while also respecting your privacy.
