Normally, here on the Ride the Wire blog, I write about future dystopian situations. However, this current one is so disturbing that I felt compelled to address it. Certain states have started requiring users to verify their age before they can enter adult websites.
The argument for this is that kids and teenagers shouldn’t be able to access adult sites so easily. There’s also a growing online movement to outright ban adult sites for everyone. This comes in the wake of the ongoing discussions about banning TikTok in the United States.
On the surface, this might seem like a good idea to those with little or no tech knowledge. They imagine some magical solution—a single button press—that will keep people from accessing adult content. The logic seems to be, “Just ban it,” because bans have worked so well in the past, right?
The Reality of Bans: Creating a Black Market
The truth is that anyone who wants to access this type of content will find a way to do so. Banning it only creates a black market. In this case, it could lead to an underground adult content industry that operates without public scrutiny, where much darker and more dangerous activities could take place. Such markets may even leverage encrypted peer-to-peer networks, making monitoring and enforcement nearly impossible.
Cybersecurity Threats: Providing Identity to Adult Content Websites
These laws often require users to have a webcam connected and provide their ID to verify their age or create an account. There’s usually also a checkbox to consent to the use of biometric data.
This means users are expected to trust adult websites with databases containing their biometric data, photos, and personal identification. The risk doesn’t stop there. If a website is compromised, it could result in a data breach exposing sensitive information. Worse yet, linking users to their browsing habits creates a high potential for extortion or blackmail, especially with the rise of ransomware-as-a-service models used by cybercriminals.
Additionally, these age-verification systems often rely on centralized authentication databases, which could serve as prime targets for hackers. Unlike decentralized solutions, centralized systems create a single point of failure that could compromise millions of users at once.
The Simplicity of Bypassing Restrictions
If only certain states block adult content, it won’t take long for people to find ways to bypass these restrictions. Most high schoolers already know how to circumvent network restrictions thanks to experimenting on their school’s systems.
Proxy servers and VPNs will likely surge in popularity. Proxies are the simplest method—a two-click solution involving navigating to a proxy host and then accessing the desired site through it. VPNs offer another easy workaround, as users can simply connect to a server in a state or country without these restrictions. With premium VPN providers offering encrypted connections and robust security features, it becomes nearly impossible to track user activity.
What’s next? Will governments try to ban VPN and proxy services that operate legally in other states? People will just move to international proxies, VPNs, or even networks like TOR to bypass the rules. TOR, in particular, uses a distributed relay system to anonymize traffic, making it one of the hardest systems to block without significant overreach.
This would also force users to rely on potentially untrustworthy third-party services, some of which may embed spyware or malicious code into their software.
The Moral of the Story
The Internet was designed to be free and open. While it undoubtedly contains dark corners, there’s also immense good out there. Just like teenagers sneaking their uncle’s magazines back in the day, they’ll find a way to access content if they’re determined.
I’ve seen people online say, “Why don’t we ban OnlyFans if we’re going to ban TikTok?” The real solution isn’t more bans. It’s about stopping the government from trying to control the flow of information altogether. Instead, we should focus on empowering users with education and tools to make informed decisions while ensuring robust privacy protections and cybersecurity measures are in place.
- Circuit Surfer ⎐⎏⎐⎏
