The ominous countdown appeared on computer screens in five more states recently.
In Indiana, Kentucky, Idaho, Kansas and Nebraska internet users were surprised by a warning screen with white type on a black background.
Was time finally up on global warming?
Were illegal gimmirants demanding Spanish be made the official language of the U.S.?
Were whites finally being moved off stolen land?
No. No. And No.
Instead, the public-spirited people at Pornhub were warning residents of those states that in the very near future they would lose access to obscene, degenerate, and immoral pornography because legislators there decided to pass legislation requiring age verification to sign on to a porn site, just like age verification is required to buy alcohol, drive a car, buy cigarettes, vote or get a tattoo.
The age limit in case of porn is just like the age limit in case of alcohol: 18 years-of-age.
Rather than comply with the law, now Pornhub in age verification states simply pulls the plug on everyone in the state.
That sounds like a win-win to us.
As the UK’s Daily Mail put it, "More than 18 million Americans living in five states are set to join Pornhub's growing banned list due to lawmakers rolling out age restriction laws.
Kentucky lost access on June 10, while Indiana, Idaho and Kansas will be blocked on June 28th and Nebraska on July 17th."
Naturally, the folks at Pornhub claim preventing young minds from being poisoned by porn is dangerous.
"Pornhub parent company Aylo has noted that it publicly supported age verification for 'years' but added, 'the way many jurisdictions worldwide have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous'."
Which leads us to ask, if the saints at Pornhub have supported age verification "for years" then what’s the holdup? Why did it take legislation to make it happen?
Keeping youth away from the mentally and emotionally corrosive effects of porn is one of those gritty social issues that comb-over conservatives disdain.
They’ll choose business tax cuts any day over that!
Besides porn is a $100 billion multi-national business which many "experts" said was too big and too powerful to ever control by mere state-level legislation.
And even if you try, there will be instant lawsuits and more controversy. Experienced politicians advised, better to stick to tax cuts and complaining about regulation.
As far as it goes, the naysayers have a point.
Politico.com informs us that Pornhub, was visited 42 billion times in 2019, which works out to 115 million times daily. That was before the Branch Covidians locked us inside our homes, chained to a computer monitor.
Far too many of those "visitors" are underage children who are being exposed to what amounts to a brain virus that legislation warns, "Pornography is creating a public health crisis and having a corroding influence on minors. . . .
"Pornography may also impact brain development and functioning, contribute to emotional and medical illnesses, shape deviant sexual arousal, and lead to difficulty in forming or maintaining positive, intimate relationships, as well as promoting problematic or harmful sexual behaviors and addiction."
Sure it sounded bad, but only church ladies and cranky letters to the editor writers really cared.
Then State Rep. Laurie Schlegel, R-La. Dist. 84, was elected.
She introduced the first age verification law. (Complete details here.)
As one of the porn purveyors told Politico, "age-verification laws make traffic to porn sites drop precipitously. It turns out, unsurprisingly, that nobody wants to upload their driver’s license or passport before watching porn . . ."
That’s the real reason porn pushers oppose the law, not some spurious concern about "privacy." They are only concerned with privates.
We think the same embarrassment phenomenon works in reverse with politicians.
No legislator wants to be seen voting against a bill to control children’s access to porn. Schlegel’s bill passed the Louisiana House of Representatives 96 to 1, and in that state's Senate, 34 to 0.
Here’s the good news: Traffic on Pornhub dropped 80% after passage of Schlegel’s bill.
Now that these five states are joining the age verification trend it brings the total to 12 states, the others being Texas, North Carolina, Montana, Mississippi, Virginia, Arkansas and Utah.
Isn’t it strange there are no blue states on this list, only red or purple.
Or maybe it isn’t so strange after all.
Age verification for porn sites is a winning issue morally and politically.
Polling in swing states finds that porn age verification is stunningly favorable. An overwhelming 77% support the laws while a mere 15% object and we doubt those folks are making irate calls to their legislators.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.