Despite how early we are into 2023, the porn industry is already facing an uphill battle. With de facto bans on social media and new legislation designed to restrict the industry, it’s no exaggeration to say that 2023 has got off to a very bad start.
Here are two examples of how 2023 is already turning sour for the adult industry.
Louisiana Requires Government ID To Jerk Off
On the very first day of the New Year, Louisiana state legislature passed a new law into effect that requires websites with more than 33.3% pornographic content to subject users to age verification.
What does this mean for people in the Pelican State? For one, big porn tube sites like xHamster and Pornhub must now request viewers whose IPs originate in Louisiana to provide digital proof of their age.
They can do this by using an app called ‘LA Wallet’, originally created with digital driver’s licenses in mind. Vice News reports that other porn sites have yet to follow suit and institute age verification checks.
If they do not, they can be expected to face legal repercussions from the State of Louisiana, reportedly for allowing minors to potentially access their content. The controversial House Bill 142 was put on the floor by Republican state representative Laurie Schlegel, made it through the fractious state floor, and was eventually approved by the Louisiana governor, Democrat Jon Bel Edwards.
Schlegel is infamous for her hardline religious views and strident anti-pornography stance and professes to be a “faith-based therapist”. In addition to her work on unenforceable and puritanical legislation, she is purportedly treating “porn addiction” – a condition that is not considered to be a legitimate one by most psychologists.
Commentators have opined that the law is, in addition to being ill-advised, unconstitutional. One such commentator made the point that porn is “easily lockable with […] device-level filters” that are straightforward to access. In addition, despite the supposed purpose of the law and the opinions of its fundamentalist proponents, most adult sites actively work to ensure that minors are unable to access their content.
Observers have noted that the law is, in any event, not going to stop minors from gaining access to porn. There are many sites that offer porn and do not adhere to the rule of law, so porn is still readily accessible even with House Bill 142 in effect. The bill was described as “performative stupidity” that would ultimately only incite “stupid performative people” to file “stupid, performative lawsuits” (per Tim Cushing, staff writer at Techdirt.com).
Twitter Bans Pineapple Support Society
In another blow to the adult film industry, Twitter has continued its bold new direction of “protecting free speech” under Elon Musk.
The official Twitter account of the Pineapple Support Society – an organization offering subsidized or free mental health services to professionals working within the industry – was permanently suspended on January 2nd.
At the time of writing, there was no comment from Twitter on the matter and no indication that the suspension would be reversed.
