Pornhub has disabled its site in Texas to object to a state law that requires the company to verify the age of users to prevent minors from accessing the site. Texas residents who visit the site ar…

Pornhub has disabled its site in Texas to object to a state law that requires the company to verify the age of users to prevent minors from accessing the site.

Texas residents who visit the site are met with a message from the company that criticizes the state’s elected officials who are requiring them to track the age of users.

The company said the newly passed law impinges on “the rights of adults to access protected speech” and fails to pass strict scrutiny by “employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas’s stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors.”

    • @homura1650
      34•2 months ago

      Interestingly, according to the article, the biggest effect is in 15-19 year olds; which are the people the law is intended to bar from accessing porn. Granted, I have no idea how good the underlying study that article is based off of is.

      • @skozzii@lemmy.ca
        1•2 months ago

        The ones that most definetely know how to use a vpn…

        It’s gonna be the boomer politicians that are big mad and can’t figure out a work around.

        • @aidan@lemmy.world
          2•2 months ago

          The ones that most definetely know how to use a vpn…

          There are plenty of 15-19 year olds who are good with computers, but also plenty who aren’t

          • @Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
            1•2 months ago

            The goal post for what “being good at computers” has moved quite a bit, stuff that was distinctly only known to the nerds and geeks is now common knowledge to the younger generations, just from what I’ve seen of my younger relatives compared to my geekyness growing up lol.

              • @Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
                1•2 months ago

                VPNs was a good one, I have definitely heard from my younger siblings/cousins they’re familiar or use them at school.

                I remember being a select few at my school who knew how to use proxies to get to game sites on school PCS, I even made a little free hosted website for linking to proxies/unblocked game sites for my friends. (that eventually got blocked too, funny enough certain link shortners still worked for a bit since they seemingly blocked by Url)

                I’ll try to think of other examples, just something I had noticed talking to younger family members.

                I think it’s moreso just that it’s easier to do then it used to be.

    • @Makhno@lemmy.world
      26•2 months ago

      If porn is the only thing stopping someone from raping another person, then their problems are a whole lot deeper than porn

      • @homura1650
        69•2 months ago

        So? If porn is the only thing that stopped me from getting raped, then my problem is solved. I’d call that a win.

      • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
        15•2 months ago

        While true it still is stopping them. I don’t really care that much of a person is intrinsically a good person or not I care what their action’s are.

        Question: what do you call someone capable of the act of rape that has never raped anyone? Answer: normal.

        • @Syn_Attck@lemmy.today
          3•2 months ago

          Well said. In a world without stop signs, traffic lights, laws and judges, the people who think they’re the most wholesome may otherwise be the most vicious perpetrators.

          We like to think being a good person is an innate thing. Truth is, hatred, jealousy, lust, anger, murder, rape, violence - they’re all human nature. Every single person reading this comment is capable of murder if the set of circumstances required it. Societal conditioning (including education), the environment you’re raised in, social punishments, the threat of lack of freedom, and learned introspection are the factors preventing people from doing these things.

          If you’re the nicest person someone has met, then you lucked out, but it has very little to do with your ‘true nature.’ One caveat: some people seem to be born with a predisposition towards violence. Not many are born with a predisposition to anti-violence. Anti-violence is as innate in humans as the English language. Nobody’s born with it, but if you’re raised with it then you do it mostly subconsciously. If anti-violence was a common function of human DNA then we’d all have been eaten by lions. Just to illustrate it further, even plants innately use violence (poisons) as an anti-predation mechanism, although they (probably) aren’t conscious.

          I can’t count the number of times in AA and NA I heard stories about people not knowing it wasn’t ‘normal’ to get fucked up and beat their spouse until they were out of their parents house.

      • @laughterlaughter@lemmy.world
        6•2 months ago

        I agree with you. However, that’s oversimplifying the matter. I don’t think every case in which “porn helped prevent a rape” has porn as the one and only reason.

          • @Bremmy@lemmy.ml
            1•2 months ago

            I’m full on anti-religion, but some crazies have said the fear of eternal damnation is the only reason they don’t go out murdering

            • @afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
              1•2 months ago

              I have my doubts about how accurate their assessment is. I said things like that when I was a theist and turns out I am still pretty boring even without the fear of hell. However, on the off chance I am wrong and quite literally the only thing keeping someone from being a murderer is the fear of hell well they should probably still believe in hell.

              This is what the narcissist does to you. They convince you that you are nothing and even less than nothing without them. Religion teaches people that they are worthless and can only be saved from their deserved fate by absolute obedience.