E621, Pornhub, and others block North Carolina residents
Major porn sites, including Pornhub and the furry art site e621, are blocking users in North Carolina (and some other states) in response to new age-verification laws targeting “material harmful to minors.” Commenters debate whether such measures actually reduce youth exposure to porn or simply drive traffic to VPNs and shadier sites, while raising serious concerns about privacy, government overreach, vague legal definitions of pornography, and potential misuse against LGBTQ+ or other marginal content. Some propose cryptographic or zero-knowledge age checks as a safer alternative, but many doubt lawmakers will adopt nuanced technical solutions or that the laws will be effective in practice.
Scope of the Law and Site Responses
- North Carolina’s new age‑verification law for “material harmful to minors” prompted blocks from Pornhub, e621, and others; similar blocks seen in Virginia.
- The legal trigger is vague: “substantial portion” and 30%+ adult content are mentioned; some argue this could implicate search engines.
- Some sites stress they support age verification in principle but object to the specific, privacy‑invasive implementation.
- One commenter expects the law to be short‑lived and politically motivated rather than substantively child‑focused.
Effectiveness, VPNs, and Workarounds
- Many predict widespread VPN adoption or migration to sketchier, non‑US sites, limiting any reduction in porn use.
- Others argue that any friction will reduce consumption and consider that a social positive.
- There’s disagreement on whether one “gets less of what you prohibit” or simply drives it underground and more extreme.
Porn’s Social and Psychological Impact
- Conflicting research is cited:
- One set of work links porn access to lower violent rape rates across multiple countries.
- Another literature review finds associations between porn use and increased verbal/physical sexual aggression and distorted expectations.
- Several commenters emphasize porn’s potential to desensitize, commodify sex, or contribute to dysfunction; others say many adults use porn without problems.
- Some see limited or age‑appropriate exposure (e.g., softcore) as not inherently harmful, and stress parental responsibility over state censorship.
Privacy, Surveillance, and ID Verification
- Strong concern that mandatory ID checks create permanent, hackable databases of intimate behavior.
- Comparisons are drawn to existing pervasive tracking (payments, phones, streaming), with debate over whether this is already “dystopian.”
- Cryptographic, privacy‑preserving age‑verification schemes (zero‑knowledge proofs, blind signatures, third‑party verifiers) are proposed, but some doubt political or practical will.
Ambiguous Boundaries and Slippery Slope
- “Porn” is seen as poorly defined and historically used to censor LGBTQ+ and other disfavored content.
- Worries that ID‑gating porn sets a precedent for gating broader speech or targeting sexual minorities and niche communities (e.g., furry fandom).