United States | Age verification on porn sites

America’s state lawmakers are passing ineffective anti-porn laws

Bills that do not do what they advertise have bipartisan support

A boy with red no entry signs as spectacles
Image: Tyler Comrie/Getty Images
|WASHINGTON, DC

“Is anyone else’s Pornhub not working?” tweeted the mischievous grey-haired grandma and state senator L. Louise Lucas of Virginia on June 30th. Mrs Lucas knew that the website would stop working for her and millions of Virginians that weekend. Virginia, along with Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana, passed a law this year requiring users to prove they are an adult before accessing pornographic websites. Arkansas, Montana and Texas have similar policies that will go into effect over the coming months.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Vice and verification”

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