As the internet continues to balloon and grow into a place in which people spend more and more time, concerns about child safety have grown louder. Lawmakers are right to be worried about children accessing adult content online, but they may be going about policing it in the wrong way.

There have been some recent developments in the USA in which certain states will collect identification from users of adult websites. This could have a negative effect on grown men who want to easily access entertainment in a safe and secure way.

What are the Age Verification Measures in Place?

Earlier this year, the government in Louisiana quickly pushed through new legislation. It requires anyone accessing adult websites to provide their identification. After this came into force, it influenced another 11 states to follow suit and propose similar bills.

According to PIA’s blog piece, this is stepping into dangerous territory. Although the law is designed to protect children and the intentions are good, there are various reasons why this might be considered a bad move. For one, the blog noted that other countries like the UK and

Germany have attempted it before to no avail.

The law could also be considered slightly extreme, given that the number of children accessing pornographic content isn’t that high. Indeed, according to Ofcom’s study, only 17 per cent of children aged between 12 and 15 reported having seen online pornography.

Those figures are obviously slightly concerning, but they suggest that targeted solutions may be more appropriate than sweeping laws. This could involve more education on the matter and support from communities.

Could Have a Negative Impact on Grown Men Who Want to Access These Websites

If these new measures come into play throughout the rest of the USA, there’s a good chance that lawmakers around the world could consider something similar. This has a lot of implications for privacy online and could deter many adult men from accessing this form of entertainment.

Having to provide identification to enter websites brings about a whole host of issues with regards to data privacy. By handing over such valuable information, users need to put a lot of trust in the websites they are using. It also puts a lot of responsibility on the business that collects them, and if there is a data breach it could be disastrous for their reputation.

The policies could also lead to a reduction in men feeling comfortable with accessing adult websites. According to YouGov’s research, 76 per cent of British men say they have watched porn before, while 36 per cent watch it on a regular basis. Therefore, if identification rules come into play ubiquitously, a lot of people will be affected.

Sweeping measures to police the internet in this way are clearly done with the right intentions. However, they can have a negative impact on other internet users who aren’t underage. Therefore, instead of opting for policies like the one in Louisiana, governments should put more focus on educating youngsters about proper internet practice.