A NEW law designed to crack down on underage viewers watching adult content has come into force across Florida.
State lawmakers crafted the legislation in a move designed to help protect children on the internet.
The law, which came into effect on January 1, means that Floridians who want to access adult content platforms must verify their age to prove they are old enough.
It’s designed to stop under-18s from accessing X-rated material.
It was supported by both state Democrats and Republicans. It passed by a margin of 109 lawmakers to four.
Users will have to verify their age regardless of what device they are using.
However, data used to complete age checks must be deleted under the terms of the bill.
Websites that breach the law could be slapped with hefty fines totaling up to $50,000 per violation.
However, major adult content websites have taken action in light of the law being passed.
The company behind Pornhub has blocked those in the Sunshine State to access the platform, per CBS News.
Aylo chiefs believe that having to share ID poses a privacy risk.
“As you may know, your elected officials in Florida are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” officials said.
“While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.”
Aylo officials have begged lawmakers to offer a real solution.
They suspect that some people will turn to websites that do not follow the law – unless there is a genuine crackdown.
They said the decision to block Pornhub in Florida was “difficult.”
State Republican Chase Tramont, who sponsored the bill, rubbished Aylo’s claims.
“It’s not a situation where they can’t comply, they simply don’t want to comply,” he claimed.
THE company that owns the adult content website Pornhub has issued a statement in light of Florida's new law that cracks down on underage viewers watching explicit material.
“As you may know, your elected officials in Florida are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,
“While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.
“”In addition, mandating age verification without proper enforcement gives platforms the opportunity to choose whether or not to comply.
“As we’ve seen in other states, this just drives traffic to sites with far fewer safety measures in place.
“Very few sites are able to compare to the robust Trust and Safety measures we currently have in place.
“To protect children and user privacy, any legislation must be enforced against all platforms offering adult content.
“The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns.
“We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification.
“Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Florida..”
Source: CBS News
” If they truly believed in age verification and protecting children from accessing their sites, they would be doing it.”
Paul Renner, the former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, said children shouldn’t be accessing explicit material.
“Adults can do whatever they want; I don’t care,” he told the Tallahassee Democrat.
“But 8-year-old boys should not be accessing hard-core pornography at that age.”
But Florida is not the only state where adult content is blocked for underage viewers.
Americans in states such as Mississippi and Texas cannot view X-rated material without verifying their age.
An age verification law also came into force in South Carolina on January 1.
The legislation warns that companies that don’t ask for proof of age could be hit with criminal charges.
Legislation passed in Georgia mandating websites to verify the age of users will come into force in July 2025.
It is part of a sweeping social media crackdown known as the Protecting Georgia’s Children on Social Media Act of 2024.
Ahead of the law coming into force in Florida, there was reportedly a surge in search for terms such as VPN, according to Newsweek.
The U.S. Sun has approached Aylo for comment.
FLORIDA joins a growing number of states that requires users to verify their age when accessing adult content.
A law in Georgia will come into force in July 2025
