Another Victory Against the Porn Industry – United Kingdom to Require Age Verification
As many states and countries are adopting stringent restrictions for viewing porn, the United Kingdom is next in line. By July, the law requires that porn websites will require more robust age verification methods. This means that age will no longer be verified by the simple clicking of a button, but will require verification by government ID or facial recognition systems.
Pornhub to introduce ‘government approved’ age checks in UK | BBC
The porn industry has got away with its exploitation for a long time, because both citizens and regulators did not understand the levels of harm that it brought to society. Radical feminists know that porn is extremely degrading to women. Unfortunately, not all of society shares this concern for women, but many do worry about issues of addiction and of minors being exposed to sexual content. To many now, its clear that porn should have never have been this widespread and accessible.
While it may be a while until porn is outright banned, there are reasons that the rapid adoption of age verification will be so beneficial to women. The porn industry can only make significant profits if their product is unregulated and easily consumable by masses of men. Many men will simply stop viewing porn if they have to go through the process of uploading an ID. These types of age verification laws also affect site like OnlyFans, meaning that the industry cannot simply attempt to shift exploitation between platforms. While proponents of porn state that OnlyFans allows women to create porn independently, the reality is that women there are trafficked by organizations, boyfriends, and family members, all in the same way. With all avenues to profit being affected, the porn industry will be significantly weakened.
Age verification can still be circumvented with VPNs, for now. While this still presents a problem, not all men are willing to get a VPN to view porn, meaning the viewership will still remain significantly decreased. VPN usage does however need to be addressed eventually. There are two ways this could happen. The first, is that laws could require that VPN traffic to porn sites will be blocked. The second possibility, is that porn sites will have to require age verification, regardless of what location a viewer is accessing the site from. Ideally, the push will be for both of these to happen at once.
There are too many forms of exploitation against women in our world today. We are winning the fight against the porn industry, but we have to remain vigilant. While these latest victories show what can happen when women in mass do show up and support anti-exploitation laws, there is still much work to do. Only when porn is completely banned, can we make sure that women are free from trafficking and exploitation. Only once women are no longer seen as objects to be penetrated, can women truly have agency and be free.
Not all women appear in porn, but porn affects the lived reality of every women. Porn is a male control system that reduces women’s value to men’s depraved interests. Because of porn, women are pushed into harmful beauty rituals, expensive and dangerous plastic surgeries, and reduced roles in society. Let’s put an end to the porn industry for good, so that women and girls can finally be free. Continue to support age verification laws in your states and countries, and thank you for helping us get this far. ♀
