Begun, the porn wars have

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

The UK requires adult websites to verify the age of their users. A simple "I'm 18+" box won't suffice anymore. Some sites are asking for uploaded photo ID, others for credit card verification. Some use an AI based tech that's supposed to gauge your age from a photo—a variation that at least plausibly could be anonymized if the photos are deleted after use.

The US Supreme Court recently ruled to uphold states' rights to implement strong age verification as well. Many of these tools are likely to become common in the US.

I'm very open to the idea that children accessing this content is a very serious issue—one that parents may struggle to solve in isolation. Legal online gambling where I live already utilizes such binding age gates, to reasonably good effect. VPNs and other tools can probably break through these new gates, but only for somewhat tech savvy users.

But the idea that databases linking folks' ID to their porn watching habits are being created, and that this process will be largely stewarded by the sites themselves, seems like a privacy catastrophe waiting to happen.

[CaptainFritz28]

Good on the governments for trying to reduce such content consumption by minors. Hopefully they can find a method that works without causing a major data breach.

[Jamiet99uk]

Why is the title of this thread written as if Master Yoda is worried about his Brazzers subscription?

[Jamiet99uk]

But the idea that databases linking folks' ID to their porn watching habits are being created, and that this process will be largely stewarded by the sites themselves, seems like a privacy catastrophe waiting to happen.

My concern would be that reasonably law-abiding porn sites such as PornHub and OnlyFans* will abide by these regulations and introduce some kind of age verification - but many other porn sites will not, and the UK Government will, I think, have a very hard time actually doing much about that. There's also a risk, potentially, that young people will be driven to accessing nastier content because they are unable to get into the law-abiding sites which implement age controls.

*Yes, OnlyFans, we know you also have cookery and fitness content, but everyone knows perfectly well that 95%+ of your site traffic is sexual / erotic / gooning to big tiddy goth girls / etc.

[learnedSloth]

The only way to truly protect children from harmful content is to restrict their Internet access.

[Octavious]

This has been something of an eye opener. I had no idea OnlyFans had cookery and fitness content. Jamie, you're a guide to a whole new world.

It seems strange that this battle between governments and the porn Barons (a reassuringly old fashioned term for villains) comes at a time when ai threatens to turn the industry on its head. When a tailor made online ai bot can be made to dance to whatever tune you wish (albeit with the occasional extra limb or digit) the motivation to pay extra for the exploitation of a genuine woman falls off a cliff. A fraction of the price and a fraction of the harm.

And, once the numbers of people who are involved in the industry falls far enough, both in terms of the genuine performers and people who prefer them, that's when the government can take action without fear of punishment. My bet is that we'll start seeing outright bans on human acted porn production within a decade. Holywood proper will continue their trend of reverting back to early 20th century morality for actors, with onscreen intimate content filled in by ai stunt doubles, virtual merkins etc. No more need for expensive intimacy coordinators.

[Jamiet99uk]

I believe "virtual merkins" is today's winning phrase.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

...the motivation to pay extra for the exploitation of a genuine woman falls off a cliff. A fraction of the price and a fraction of the harm.

...My bet is that we'll start seeing outright bans on human acted porn production within a decade.

This is a very interesting idea that's not circumscribed to porn.

If AI can tailormake exactly the digital content we want with high fidelity, to what extent will people accept it as a perfect substitute for the "real thing"? But maybe as the "real thing" becomes rarer it becomes more alluring? Porn seems like one area where the thought that it's "real" might matter to some users (hence the explosion of relatively expensive personalized porn and parasocial relationships via Only fans, in an age where there is practically unlimited pornographic video content for free). And maybe there are hybrid forms, AI and real, that end up having some staying power: an Only Fan actress who uses a digital filter or who responds to subs using ChatGPT is already experimenting with this.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

The only way to truly protect children from harmful content is to restrict their Internet access.

I think this is the right answer.

There really may be a government role here to try to fill the gap left by parents who aren't present, attentive, or tech savvy. But the reality is the internet will probably always be a disgusting and even dangerous place (and maybe it should be). The best harm reduction is probably just making sure a kid under like 14 doesn't have access to their own device outside a common room, such that any terrible thing they might see on a friend's phone or wherever is at least an occasional occurence.