Beyond Pornography: A Prelude To Broader Digital Surveillance?

How Texas's age verification law signals a slippery slope for privacy rights.

Pornhub, the largest online pornography platform, and serveral other pornography websites disabled access to Texas today. This comes after Ken Paxton sued Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo. Paxton accused Aylo of failing to implement “reasonable age verification methods” on Pornhub and other adult sites that it owns.

In the fabric of American freedoms, the First Amendment stands as a beacon of protection for free speech, casting its light across the broad spectrum of expression, from the political to the personal, and yes, even to the realm of sexually explicit material.

The Supreme Court rulings have affirmed that consenting adults possess the freedom to engage with sexually explicit material. This legal stance underscores a fundamental respect for personal autonomy and the right to access information and expressive content without undue interference.

What’s happening in this case isn’t about pornography; it’s about the First Amendment.

The recent enactment of age-verification laws in Texas aimed at protecting minors by mandating government-issued ID for access to sexually explicit websites. In turn, the law infringes upon the privacy rights of adults.

These measures inadvertently undermine the freedoms of adult citizens, challenging the principles of autonomy and privacy that the Supreme Court has previously preserved.

How did we get here?

During the 88th Legislature, Matt Shaheen (R-Collin County) ’s HB 1181 was passed and later signed into law. This bill passed the House and Senate almost unanimously across party lines. It was premised on protecting children from online pornography, which, on its face, seems like an excellent idea. Regardless of party ideology, we should all agree that protecting children from pornographic material is necessary.

However, the bill also mandates that adults provide identification whenever they visit an adult platform. This requirement encroaches upon adults’ privacy and freedoms and limits their ability to access legal content freely and without undue burden.

Ken Paxton sued Aylo, accusing the company of violating House Bill 1181, which requires pornographic websites to “use reasonable age verification methods” to “verify that an individual attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older.”

Pornhub argued that the method of age verification mandated by the law is not a practical solution to protect minors online, and requiring identification can actually put minors’ and adults’ privacy at risk, as it involves sharing sensitive personal information that could be exploited if not adequately protected.

A lower court blocked the law on August 31, a day before it was to take effect. US District Judge David Ezra ruled that it would infringe on adults’ access to free speech by requiring them to identify themselves to use the site and that there were other ways to halt children from accessing pornography.

Last week, in a 2-1 decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of the law.

Today, users trying to access any of Aylo’s networks, which include Pornhub, YouPorn, and Brazzers, are reportedly receiving messages that inform them that the sites are no longer available due to the new law, which the company called “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.”

There should be age verification requirements, but mandating adults provide their government-issued ID is not only an overreach, but it’s also a Trojan Horse for much worse Christian fascist policies.

The requirement for government-issued ID as a means of age verification goes far beyond the mere act of accessing adult content. In an era of digital footprints, the prospect of linking one’s personal, government-verified identity to one’s online activities is how we create a surveillance state.

Such a mandate places individuals’ most private moments and choices under the potential gaze of not only the websites they visit but also, indirectly, any entity with the ability to access or intercept this verification data.

This creates a digital environment where every click and every page viewed is traced back to a real-world identity. This risks exposure to cyber threats and identity theft and erodes the foundational anonymity that allows for free exploration and expression on the internet.

• According to Duke University, more than 80% of US companies have reported that their systems have been hacked.

• According to governing.com, 61% of Americans have had their data breached.

For those of you who don’t work in or follow the cybersecurity space, you might not know how pervasive it is for businesses to be hacked or have a breach. Imagine an online pornography website is hacked or breached, and everyone who has visited the website and given their ID has their names, addresses, and driver’s license number is now listed on the dark web, right along with what kind of porn they like.

This is a profound invasion of personal privacy.

• Individuals may become targets of blackmail or extortion attempts, with perpetrators threatening to disclose their online activities to family, employers, or the public unless they pay a ransom or comply with other demands.

• Exposure to one’s online activities can devastate relationships and careers. Marriages and partnerships may be strained or destroyed, and professional reputations can suffer, potentially leading to job loss or difficulty finding employment.

This opens the door to a world where our online lives are no longer separate from our offline identities, subjecting our digital explorations to potential surveillance and control. This paradigm shift in how we manage identity and privacy online is a stark departure from the principles of anonymous free speech.

Then, there’s the Christian fascist Trojan Horse.

We’ve all been paying attention to the rise in this country of Christian Nationalism, fascism, Christofascism, or whatever you’re calling it. In recent years, legislation passed by the far-right has included abortion bans, history bans in schools, book bans, drag show bans, and even bans on access to healthcare.

Now, we see them banning pornography in Texas.

Suppose Paxton and other Texas Republicans win this battle, and pornography websites begin collecting government-issued IDs. What will stop them from passing a law in the near future to demand these websites hand over the information of everyone who views gay porn? Or transgender porn? Or anything that Republicans deem not within their moral purview?

It would be the next step toward persecuting morality crimes.

If you think they won’t do it or this is hyperbole, then you haven’t been paying attention.

This was during the Senate Committee hearing on HB1181; please listen carefully to how Senator Paul Bettencourt reams an industry witness. (The witness testified that age verification should be done on a technological device, not a website.)

🚩Bettencourt tells the witness that it is his company’s “moral responsibility” to verify the identities of everyone who visits pornographic websites. This should send chills down your spine. The government should not dictate morals to private companies, especially not Paul Bettencourt’s version of morality.

🚩Bettencourt says that pornography is “pervasive in society” and we’re going to “lose a whole generation of children to pornography.” For the record, the world’s oldest pornography is over 3,000 years old. Children are no more at risk than they were 30 years ago when pornography became widely accessible on the internet. While we should do what we can to protect children from inappropriate material, Bettencourt’s channeling of Jerry Falwell is pure hyperbole.

🚩Bettencourt talks about wanting big tech to save humanity from pornography. Not from climate change or guns in the hands of every Tom, Dick, and Harry, but images of sex. Regardless of where you stand on this issue, most people should be able to agree that gun violence is a more significant threat to humanity than pornography.

Legislating morality, especially in the context of government-imposed standards on private behaviors and content consumption, opens a Pandora’s box.

At the heart of a democratic society lies the principle that individuals should have the autonomy to make choices about their lives, including what they view, read, or engage with, as long as these choices do not harm others. The government attempts to legislate morality by dictating adults to identify themselves to consume online, which infringes upon these freedoms and sets a precedent for further intrusions into private life.

Morality is inherently subjective and varies among individuals, cultures, and communities. What one group considers immoral, another may see as perfectly acceptable. Once the government begins to regulate content based on moral judgments, it sets a precedent for broader censorship. This leads to the suppression of sexually explicit material and any content that falls outside of government-approved moral standards. The boundary between protecting public morals and oppressing free expression becomes increasingly blurred.

Legislation based on moral grounds can be weaponized for political purposes, targeting specific groups or ideologies deemed undesirable by those in power. We’ve already seen discriminatory practices, persecution, and the erosion of civil liberties of LGBTQ+ communities in Texas.

The situation unfolding in Texas is a litmus test for the resilience of American freedoms.

Government-issued ID for age verification on adult websites, under the guise of protecting minors, raises profound questions about privacy, autonomy, and the right to free, unmonitored access to information.

Ultimately, it’s not about pornography; it’s only about pornography this week. Next week, it will be about another aspect of personal freedom and privacy—perhaps we’ll have to provide ID to read certain books or watch certain movies.

It’s a slippery slope and one that comes while we’re witnessing the rise of Christian fascism in all levels of government. The ramifications of this law extend beyond the realm of adult content, signaling potential future intrusions into other areas of private life under the banner of moral or public safety concerns.

So, what’s the solution?

That’s the million-dollar question. Perhaps the porn industry and some legislators are working on that right now. How do we keep pornography out of the hands of minors without the risk of misdirected retribution from an authoritative government?

One of the most glaring answers to that problem is, of course, to vote. Vote for people who care about protecting children and everyone’s rights to free speech and privacy. It shouldn’t be an either/or. It’s crucial that we, as a society, find a balanced approach that safeguards the innocence of youth without sacrificing the freedoms and rights that define us as individuals.

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