On Thursday, L. Louise Lucas, a Virginia Democrat and President Pro Tempore of the Virginia State Senate, expressed her dissatisfaction with Governor Glenn Youngkin because she can no longer access Pornhub’s streaming site for pornographic content. It is not surprising that a Democrat politician is upset about being deprived of her preferred porn service, but there is a certain level of transparency in publicly acknowledging it.
Virginia is among a few states that require pornographic websites to implement age verification measures to prevent minors from accessing explicit content. Louisiana and Utah were the first states to enforce such requirements, and now Virginia, Mississippi, and Arkansas are set to follow suit starting July 1. Pornhub argues that these laws put users at risk of identity theft since the company cannot guarantee the security of their personal information. However, one may question why users would provide credit card information to such websites in the first place. Pornhub suggests implementing a “device-based” system to verify the age of users, which could potentially be exploited by minors.
Senator Louise Lucas, a self-proclaimed porn aficionado, echoes Pornhub’s claims on her Twitter account. She criticizes Governor Youngkin for not creating a system for age verification, thereby posing a massive security risk to the personal information of Virginians. It remains unclear why she believes the state should be responsible for developing a verification system specifically for a porn streaming service.
Contrary to popular belief, especially among libertarians who sometimes align with conservative values, pornography is not harmless, particularly when it comes to minors. It is unsurprising that a business rooted in sexual exploitation and driven by a constant demand for new content would be associated with sex trafficking.
Pornhub, operating under its parent company “MindGeek,” is currently facing a federal lawsuit involving a pornographic video featuring a 13-year-old girl. Despite efforts to have the video removed since 2014, Pornhub merely altered the title and metadata to evade tracking. As recently as 2020, the video remained accessible on the platform. Additionally, Pornhub faced legal pressure to identify the girl in the video, requiring her to provide personal identification. Visa, a major financial institution, is also entangled in a class-action lawsuit for allegedly assisting Pornhub in monetizing videos featuring underage and non-consenting individuals. Numerous other distressing stories related to Pornhub’s practices can be found online.
What is truly astonishing is not that a Democrat would openly support harmful and illegal behavior, as it seems to align with their brand. What is remarkable is that Senator Louise Lucas fails to mention the victimization of young individuals, especially women, by the porn industry in general and Pornhub in particular. This omission underscores the Democrats’ true priorities. It is absurd that Glenn Youngkin, who has taken a small step to address the alleged involvement of one of the world’s leading distributors of underage pornography, is portrayed as the villain, while a Democrat state senator seems unable to obtain her desired pornographic content.