this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2023
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[Discussion] How do you feel about age verification on Porn sites? (lemmings.world)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Porn sites Pornhub, XVideos, and Stripchat face stricter requirements to verify the ages of their users after being officially designated as “Very Large Online Platforms” (VLOPs) under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA).

I personally have mixed feelings, as the information collection could be used to link individuals and profile them. Possibly leading to discrimination if abused.

But I also feel that any random kid shouldn't be able to just go to these sites and see porn freely.
Ofc, there's always going to be those who mange to circumvent any protection put in place but it'd be much harder then just clicking a link or typing in the address.

I also feel that parents should actively monitor their kids online activities and step up a Blocklist to pro-actively prevent kids from reaching these sites to begin with.

What are your thoughts on this?

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

I am in favor of stricter age verification for certain content. Not only for porn but also dating apps, social media, online shops, etc. But the current methods of age verification are a privacy nightmare and go well beyond what is reasonable. Especially since companies can't be trusted to not do bad stuff with that information.

What is necessary is a double anonymity age verification service. Ideally run by a company that by law is required to be very transparent. That way we don't have to provide personal information to companies that have no actual need for it but can still reduce the amount of minors getting into places they shouldn't be.

Yes, it won't be perfect, yes there will always be bad actors, but it will still do more good than harm.

I personally am open for a discussion about reducing the minimum age to view porn. I don't have strong feelings either way.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The good old "Think of the children" argument again... This is an attack on online privacy, again. I hate it.

It is the parents responsibility to keep their kids safe. We don't ban knives either just because a child could accidentally get hurt by one. And apart from that the regulations are not even well thought out, they will not stop a determined teenager with a lot of time on their hands.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Might be a stupid question but is there any peer reviewed research that shows that porn is harmful to minors? Early humans didn't have clothes so minors were seeing nudity for centuries. Of course, there's the issue that porn gives men unrealistic expectations about women & sex, but that's an issue regardless of age.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Early human minors (until a century or two ago) used to have sex, engage in hebephilia and pedophilia, and underage teenage girls used to be mothers. This is how we still have grandmothers today who married and had kids before the age of 18. So yes, your question is wild and scientifically ignorant. Porn has always been harmful to minors, and in fact, specifically more to minors or anyone under the age of ~25, because that is when neural connections stop forming and adjusting. The neural linking and development starts to slow down by the age of 15. That makes underage minors even more vulnerable, as they hit puberty, have raging hormones and are also at risk of sexual abuse.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Electronic ids can provide the age verification without giving out any personal information. This is a solved problem at least for a lot of ids in the EU.

But no i still find it a stupid idea. It is the parents job to parent them.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That's still worrying: wouldn't some central authority know that "site X requested age verification for this person"?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No. There is no 3rd party service needed. It all can happen only between the service asking and the id (smart card).

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

... and that's different from the service having a record of your photo ID?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

The service gets no other information other then "Is the holder of the id older then 18" => "Yes"

There is no personal data exchange.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I suspect you haven't worked with governments before.

Just because something is technically possible, it's no guarantee that it will be the chosen mechanism for something. More likely the contract will be awarded to either the lowest possible bidder, or to a friend of a friend. Cronyism is depressingly common at all levels.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 9 months ago

I suspect you haven't worked with governments before.

Just because something is technically possible, it's no guarantee that it will be the chosen mechanism for something. More likely the contract will be awarded to either the lowest possible bidder, or to a friend of a friend. Cronyism is depressingly common at all levels.

Not sure why you are under that impression. I never discussed the potential chosen mechanism.

I stated that it is possible and that it is already implemented into the id card of many eu citizens.