Pornhub recently blocked website access in Utah as a response to the state’s age-verification law, which prohibits the company from allowing those under 18 from accessing the site.
I’m not upset by the company’s decision; I welcome it. However, I’m skeptical that restricted access to Pornhub will result in any statistically significant reduction of porn consumption in the state. Until 2020, Pornhub allowed users to download content from the site, so it is possible that some Utahns have already saved videos and curated a personal electronic library of erotic materials which is not contingent on future website access. Moreover, using a virtual private network (VPN) would allow Utahns to easily circumvent the company’s website restrictions. And, of course, Pornhub is not the only online source for pornography, so Utahns have plenty of other options available, and I imagine many people will quickly discover their new favorite website. Today, it isn’t necessary to visit an adult website for porn; the content is so easily discovered on a wide range of platforms. For example, Twitter allows consensual pornography, albeit such content must be marked as sensitive to warn users. Searching “porn” on Twitter will yield a long list of accounts dedicated to posting graphic images and videos.
Maybe there’s cause for conservatives to celebrate — but only for a moment. We must remember that Pornhub is merely one soldier we’ve wounded in the war against pornography. We still face a fierce army.