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The age verification effect: adult site traffic plummets, VPN use soars

⁨337⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨cm0002@lemmy.zip⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.zip⁩

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/the-age-verification-effect-adult-site-traffic-plummets-vpn-use-soars

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Comments

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  • oneser@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Next up: “Why VPNs are ruining our lives/children and how this next law will ban them. Don’t worry, only bad people have something to hide!”

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    • lvxferre@mander.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      I wonder if that isn’t exactly the goal behind all this shit.

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      • Pieisawesome@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Yes. Anything to extract more data from us and sell it

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    • plyth@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      As can be seen in Michigan.

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  • Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    I mean, isn't that first part exactly what the legislation was about? They want to ban porn and make people angry and desperate for a revolution. They're removing the circuses to go along with the removing the bread thanks to SNAP and other funds being frozen. They absolutely must want a violent revolution.

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    • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      You’re talking about America, which has nothing to do with the UK doing this.

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    • FishFace@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      This is about the UK.

      And no, it wasn’t about banning porn. You can listen to politicians and ordinary people talk about it and both are generally in favour for the same reason: making it harder for children to access porn, specifically.

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      • fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        They’re lying to you. It’s 100% a porn ban

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      • mang0@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Oh, if they say so then it must be the true. Politicians would never hide their true intentions to make their policies more appealing.

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      • ThorrJo@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        This is about the UK.

        You didn’t notice how every western ❝democracy❞ introduced ❝age verification❞ bills simultaneously as they were losing control of the Gaza narrative?

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      • vrek@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        It’s also about several us states. Plus why make it harder to access porn? It doesn’t harm anybody. It may make children ask some questions you don’t want to answer but overall… So??

        I’m for regulating porn, actors and actresses should be paid, should be protected from sti, should not be forced or coerced. But access? Who cares?

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  • HexesofVexes@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    All such laws fail to appreciate one key point - if little Timmy wants titties, little Timmy is going to move heaven and earth to get them.

    Credit card for id? Sorry mum, the call of the boobies was too great.

    Scanned photo id? Sorry dad, just borrowing your license - you understand.

    Facial age estimation? Time to buy a grandpa facerig and voice morph with my pocket money!

    On the upside, the next generation is going to be very very very tech literate, for necessity is the mother of invention. Sadly, they’re also likely to be into some dark shit as only non-conforming sites are easily accessible.

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    • fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      This is a really terrible idea and you touched on why, mainstream websites that aren’t compliance with the law do things like make sure there’s no children on their website and other such things but on regulated sites who the fuck knows what’s going on and I don’t even want to find out. It also can’t restrict someone who’s younger finding an adult will verify it and have a place, which could lead them to some dark places if they’re looking for an adult who would Age verify for them on a porn website, or even just any social space online now

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  • thatradomguy@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Going off the headline alone… wouldn’t that imply that people aren’t using VPNs to watch porn? If they were, the porn sites wouldn’t be seeing a decline. Anyway, just a random nitpick… carry on…

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    • Psythik@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Please read the article. It answers all your questions.

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    • fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      They’re probably also showing up as non-uk addresses because UK address and points would be just as horrible as coming out in Iran or somewhere like that

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      • thatradomguy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        Also good points!

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  • AlecSadler@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    I’m confused, if VPN use soured for that very reason, wouldn’t traffic remain roughly the same?

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    • jacksilver@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      The article mentions this. They only mention a 77% drop in visits from the UK, but VPNs have seen increased use. So most likely people in the UK are using VPNs to view porn (however, they don’t mention other countries numbers being up or down).

      Additionally, they call out that most likely people are also going to sites not following the law. This has always been a big issue with these laws, in that they push people to more extreme/unregulated sites rather than actually curbing the behavior (which is a problematic goal in the first place).

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      • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

        I’ve been worried about that since all these fools started talking about “banning porn.”

        The sites that already broke the law (by hosting illegal content) were never going to comply with age-verification laws. If the more ethical porn options are law-abiding, then these laws create a feedback loop - sites that comply suffer from reduced traffic, while sites that ignore the laws become more popular.

        I have zero doubt that, right now, there are people wandering onto truly harmful and disturbing material that they never would have discovered if they hadn’t been pushed to explore the fringes of the internet in search of porn.

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    • Yeller_king@reddthat.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Some people use VPNs. Most won’t bother. You wouldn’t need many new VPN users to have a big percentage increase.

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    • Psythik@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

      Read the article to find the answer to your question.

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