The Internet Revolutionized Porn: How Age Verification Could Upend Everything
The Internet Revolutionized Porn. Age Verification Could Upend Everything. Platforms like Pornhub and OnlyFans have given porn stars more autonomy, but sweeping age-check laws are already impacting their bottom lines. As a result, the current landscape is changing rapidly for creators.
The Evolution of Industry Autonomy
In historical context, Dahl debuted in adult entertainment in 2012, with credits in projects by Vivid Entertainment, Naughty America, and Girlfriends Films. At the time, she says, the industry was still very much a boys club; she had no independence and even less say over the direction of her career. “It was like five CEOs who completely dictated what was attractive and what kind of person was allowed to become a porn star,” she says. The power dynamic was inverted compared to what it is now.
Today, Dahl does a little bit of everything: girl on girl, solo and fetish content, naked workout videos, group scenes. She’s on “basically every fan platform”—Fansly, LoyalFans, and ManyVids, with OnlyFans being her “biggest income generator.” She’s grateful for the autonomy the internet has given her over her career.
The Impact of Age-Verification Laws
However, that could come to a crashing end, with the widespread adoption of age-verification laws in the US and UK. These laws require visitors to upload an ID or other personal documentation to validate that they are not a minor before viewing sexually explicit material. So far at least 24 US states have sanctioned some form of ID verification, each with unique stipulations. Legislators argue that these laws are intended to keep minors safe from content deemed harmful to them.
Already Dahl has seen “an absolutely massive drop in traffic,” she says from her home in Los Angeles. Regarding her personal finances, she states: “I’ve made 30 percent less money this year than I did last year.”
| Metric | Data Point |
|---|---|
| Regulated Jurisdictions | At least 24 US states |
| Siri Dahl Income Impact | 30 percent decrease year-over-year |
| Historical Control | Five CEOs dictated the industry |
Political Pressures and Censorship Battles
Porn censorship has been an ongoing battle—payment processors like Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal have instituted strict controls around what is permissible. Critics say the laws infringe on privacy rights and set an irreversibly dark precedent for the future of free speech. Perhaps even more terrifying is what it all signals: the death of the free web and an ushering in of a more puritanical version of America.
That’s been a goal of Project 2025 all along. A line from the 900-page Heritage Foundation document says “people who produce and distribute [porn] should be imprisoned.” Trump ally Russell Vought, who coauthored Project 2025, says the age verification laws are a “back door” route to a federal ban. “We’d have a national ban on pornography if we could,” says Vought in a leaked video recording.