Porn sites go dark in France over new age verification rules

Perceived harms of youth porn exposure

• Broad agreement that very young children shouldn’t access porn; disagreement about teenagers.
• Some think porn is a relatively minor issue vs social media or other risks; others see links (cited in the thread) to earlier/riskier sex, body shame, aggression, and coercion.
• Several argue “we didn’t turn out fine,” pointing to rising mental health issues and sexual dysfunction, though causality is disputed.
• Others say teens have always found porn; exposure alone doesn’t necessarily produce extreme behavior or misogyny.

Effectiveness and unintended consequences

• Many expect teens to bypass blocks via VPNs, mirrors, smaller or offshore sites, or sneakernet.
• Concern that burdens will fall mainly on mainstream, moderated platforms, pushing minors toward more extreme, unregulated content.
• Counter‑view: laws don’t need to be airtight; raising friction and delay can significantly cut average exposure.

Privacy, anonymity, and technical models

• Strong worry about loss of anonymity and creation of databases linking identity and porn use.
• The “double anonymity” / third‑party verifier model is seen by some as a good compromise; others worry about what the verifier and government can infer in practice.
• Discussion of privacy-preserving tools: anonymous credentials, zero‑knowledge proofs, eID apps, Privacy Pass‑style tokens. Doubts about maturity, inclusivity, and attack surfaces (e.g., relay/KYC abuse).
• Some suggest age-flag HTTP headers or RTA-style labelling so client devices/parents can filter, avoiding central ID checks.

Parental responsibility vs societal regulation

• One camp: it’s primarily on parents; ISPs already age‑gate access, similar to alcohol sales.
• Others argue parents are outgunned; society routinely uses legal guardrails (tobacco, gambling, driving) and should do so here too.

Nature of porn and changing landscape

• Claims that modern porn is more violent, incest‑themed, and ubiquitous (phones, streaming) than past eras, making comparisons (“we watched at 13 and were fine”) questionable.
• Suggestions for “teen‑safe” porn with strict content rules, analogous to softer vs harder drugs/alcohol.

Regulatory design, enforcement, and culture

• Debate over standards vs detailed rules, risk of selective enforcement, and costs for small sites.
• Some favor outright online bans or physical “porn rooms”; others see this as overreach and moral panic.
• A few question why porn is targeted more heavily than graphic violence, and note differing European vs US attitudes toward sex.