When a federal appellate court in early March upheld a Texas law requiring porn websites to verify users are at least 18 years old, decency advocates of all stripes cheered. Now, even more good news could be on the horizon: Less revenue for human traffickers.
That’s because, rather than asking users to verify their ages as the new law stipulates, Pornhub simply blocked Texans from accessing its website. And ultimately, that could dam up a revenue stream often used by human traffickers, who use pornography websites to advertise their victims for prostitution, explained Nic McKinley, CEO of the countertrafficking group DeliverFund. “They also film pornography with their victims and then sell that pornography through websites like Pornhub,” he told The Stream. “That’s why any friction that any state can put into the pornography industry writ large is a positive step in the right direction for fighting human trafficking.”
Pornhub had about 10 million users in Texas, a manager with its parent company said in an undercover video, referencing the Texas law.
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