Websites like PornHub and OnlyFans require performers to prove their age and identity as a way of cracking down on nonconsensual content and child sexual abuse material (CSAM). But if consumers are required to hand over legal documents in order to watch porn, they might seek out other sites, where the content might not be as well-vetted.
“It’s really just further marginalizing sex workers, which I think is going to be the primary effect,” Snow told TechCrunch. “I imagine this means that there will be an increased black market of premium content that’s non-consensually disseminated.”
Snow says Act 440 “is likely to also have an effect similar to that of Backpage coming down, which is, you know, just sex workers losing another stream of income and having to resort to less protected avenues.”
In 2020, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) proposed a study to the Senate on the secondary effects of SESTA/FOSTA on sex workers.
Snow describes the act of requiring people to upload their ID to watch porn as surveillance. In the most extreme cases, she says this kind of surveillance can harm LGBTQ populations.
“As homophobia and transphobia — especially homophobia in the context of porn — is rising, I could totally see the state zeroing in on people consuming gay porn, or lesbian porn, and either surveilling them further or criminalizing that,” she said. In the text of Act 440, the bill warns that pornography can inspire “deviant sexual arousal,” but does not define what “deviant” means.
“Trans women are disproportionately represented in sex work,” said Snow. “I don’t know if that’s a conscious decision for lawmakers, or if that’s just circumstantial, but I think trans women sex workers, as usual, will be the most affected.”
You must now verify your drivers license to watch Pornhub in Louisiana by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch
