When You Try to Watch Pornhub in Utah, You See Me Instead. Here’s Why

It’s a bad week to be an adult porn consumer in Utah, but it’s a great time to be a teenager. The state launched a new law requiring users to verify their ages via uploading their licenses or other invasive procedures. Without proof of age, they can’t watch porn. In response, Pornhub blocked Utah residents from streaming videos on their site. When they log on, they see a public service announcement where I explain the problem with the law. Grown-ass men are struggling to get around my PSA, but I assure you teenage boys are not: Teens are techies, and they understand how to use a VPN to evade any current content restrictions.

VPNs allow users to change the location of their IP address. Anyone with a teenage relative knows kids use them to watch anime streaming in foreign countries. Teens can evade Utah’s ID requirements in seconds, far shorter than it takes to even watch my PSA. Has any old, saggy state politician in Utah heard of a VPN? Given they think their sloppy verification system solves problems, I doubt it.

The VPN problem is why I oppose Utah’s law. Like every adult performer I know, I want zero —and I mean, zero —minors watching my content. As I’ve said before, and as I’m sure I’ll say again, it’s called adult content for a reason: We create videos, photos, and other forms of entertainment for consenting adults. Nobody wants to ban minors from watching porn more than me, but Utah’s law fails to address the problem.

For one: when there’s a will, there’s a way. It’s highly plausible a horny kid will steal someone’s license and upload their information so that they can watch adult material. Teens do insane things all the time. Some will jump to thievery to jack off. Some might even swipe their parents’ cards for a little me time. It’s inevitable.

Many parents will miss out on their kids’ theft. Nobody’s a perfect parent. In the age of inflation, high-interest rates, and raging home prices, many parents work 24/7, making them unable to monitor their children’s every whim. Sure, some helicopter moms can protect their sons from adult content, but we need to help all of society’s children.

There’s an easy solution to this problem: we need smartphones and computers specifically created for minors which block all forms of adult content, not just porn. If parents gave their children these devices, they would know that their kids weren’t looking at porn, even when they’re busy at work.

Porn companies support this solution, including, yes, Pornhub. Although anti-porn activists preach that porn giants profit off minors watching their videos, they’re wrong. Porn giants don’t want their kids on their platforms because it’s bad for business. First of all, they lack spending power; they aren’t ideal consumers. Furthermore, having kids on adult platforms creates endless negative press and political backlash.

Evangelical Christians strike back against this argument because years ago, Pornhub let users upload horrible illegal content. But even when gross videos showing minors were uploaded by criminals on Pornhub years ago, they were a minority of content. Pornhub generates cash through ad dollars and verified users selling content. As anyone who knows anything about digital ads knows, you earn pennies from online ads. Pornhub has to generate millions — if not billions — of views to reap profits. Horrible illegal smut isn’t popular enough to boost Pornhub’s coffers.

Any association with minors harms the porn industry, but the biggest reason we want kids far away from our videos is because it’s revolting. The idea of teenage boys watching my porn makes me want to vomit, and I know my colleagues share my sentiment.

We oppose restrictive laws like Utah’s because they fail to solve the problem. Teens can evade the age-verification system. When companies like Pornhub block states like Utah, like my Pornhub PSA warns, their residents will likely go to the far-off corners of the internet, where evil, foreign-based actors ignore every law and rule. Christian activists will claim it’s Pornhub’s fault these criminals prospered because Pornhub blocked Utah. Still, it’s likely many adults will also look elsewhere for porn because they don’t want to upload their license to an adult site. It’s a massive privacy violation to force people to give copies of their licenses to any digital media company. Right now, people go to Pornhub because it’s a name brand. If they can’t get off there, they’ll find a place online. Lawbreakers will grow in popularity.

The porn industry doesn’t want this to happen. The internet as a whole is a disgusting shitshow, and for 20 years, it’s been an embarrassment. Politicians should have solved these problems and found better ways to protect our children decades ago, and the adult industry would have supported their actions. Adult entertainment companies and porn performers hate minors watching our content. We also understand the internet better than anyone. After all, everything from streaming to chatbots to video chats began with our industry. Why not listen to our solutions instead of those of old politicians who’ve never heard of VPNs?