Porn Sites Must Block VPNs To Comply With Indiana's Age-Verification Law
Porn Sites Must Block VPNs To Comply With Indiana's Age-Verification Law, State Suggests in New Lawsuit. In a section of the suit detailing how Aylo allegedly violated the age-check law, Indiana notes that last July, "an investigator employed by the Office of the Indiana Attorney General ('OAG Investigator') accessed Pornhub.com from Indiana using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) with a Chicago, Illinois IP address."
The State's Case Against Geoblocking
The state argues that because some Indiana residents could use tools to get around location-based blocks, location-based blocks "are insufficient to comply with Indiana's Age Verification Law." According to the state, "Defendants have not implemented any reasonable form of age verification on its website Pornhub.com." The lawsuit goes on to detail how Indiana investigators also accessed Brazzers.com, Faketaxi.com, Spicevids.com, and other adult websites using a VPN.
Legal and Practical Data
| Category | Details from Draft |
|---|---|
| Websites Accessed via VPN | Pornhub.com, Brazzers.com, Faketaxi.com, Spicevids.com |
| Primary Laws Cited | Indiana Age-Verification Law (Senate Bill 17), Deceptive Consumer Sales Act |
| Investigation Method | OAG Investigator using a Chicago, Illinois IP address |
Broad Anti-Privacy Logic
This is an insane—and frighteningly dystopian—interpretation of the law. The logical conclusion from this is that if a porn platform doesn't want to check IDs or to stop existing, it must then stop anyone from using a VPN. This is the sort of logic that won't stop with porn platforms, of course. Indiana's logic could be used to justify sanctioning all sorts of apps and services for failing to block VPNs and other anonymity-aiding tools.
The Rokita lawsuit accuses Aylo and its affiliate companies of violating not just the Indiana age-verification law (Senate Bill 17) but also its Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. "Defendants' misrepresentations regarding the extent to which Indiana residents, including Indiana minors, could continue to access adult oriented websites after passage of Indiana's Age Verification Law were unfair, abusive, and deceptive," the suit claims.
Legal Criticism and Risks
David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called this "quite ridiculous." He told AVN that "it essentially bases liability on the failure to accomplish impossibilities." It's also part of two larger trends when it comes to online censorship and surveillance: trying to use deceptive trade practices to punish online entities for not suppressing certain sorts of content, and trying to ban VPNs and other tools that may help people avoid any number of state- or country-specific internet restrictions.
Increasingly, states are trying to require social media platforms, app stores, and other web services to verify users' ages. Sure, you might prevent a few more teens from seeing boobs or watching TikTok videos, but at the cost of massively impeding privacy for people of all ages. It's a regrettable situation in any circumstance, but especially bad for people in countries or situations where free speech online could be dangerous or where repressive governments have blocked access to outside information. The latter represents a disturbing doubling down on attempts to end online privacy and anonymity.