The left’s crusade to sexualize children begins with exposing them to so-called adult material. Last week’s action by PornHub, the most popular pornography website, to retaliate against Utah’s refusal to allow minors to view such content is just the latest evidence.
Utah joined multiple other states in pursuing pro-child measures when Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed into law in March to protect children from pornography and its dangerous, brain-chemistry-altering effects. The new law requires users to verify their age with an ID each time they visit websites with content that is “harmful to minors” – a sensible restriction on a website like PornHub that provides a platform for child sexual abuse products, sex trafficking, rape , and other non-consensual behavior.
On Monday, just two days before the unanimously passed law was due to go into effect, PornHub and other sites controlled by its parent company, MindGeek, closed access to their websites to computers with IP addresses in Utah.
Pornography is a $100 billion industry. Why would PornHub risk its customer base in Utah when it could still maintain its adult audience there? With the age verification law in effect, the website could still have continued to make a profit from its supposed intended audience. PornHub’s willingness to boycott the state fully demonstrates its target demographic: children.
Anyone with a Utah IP address who tried to access PornHub’s website was presented with a code indicating that the website was banned. PornHub’s statement regarding the motivation for such action was telling:
As you may know, your elected officials in Utah require us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. While security and compliance are paramount to our mission, giving your identity card when you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution, to protect our users, and in fact it will put children and your privacy at risk to take.
Hooking kids gives companies like PornHub a huge advantage in creating lifelong customers. PornHub’s reliance to show its content to minors can be easily understood in the context of its addictive nature. Young people are easily taken advantage of, and starting them young gives PornHub an audience more susceptible to long-term addiction and abuse.
“Research clearly shows that pornography can be extremely harmful to children because it negatively affects the brain and relational development. Some studies show that exposure to pornography is a grooming aid and that those who are exposed are more vulnerable to sexual assault and predatory acts,” explains Dawn Hawkins, CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. distributing harmful material to minors have long been liable for the harm they cause, and the internet should be no different.”
Pornography wreaks havoc on a user’s body, mind and soul. Anyone who regularly engages in pornography is at significantly higher risk of developing perverse tendencies, as well as altered brain chemistry that thwarts the ability to cultivate healthy relationships. It also dramatically increases levels of isolation and depression, and supports sexual dysfunction. Not only does porn cause tragic mental and physical effects, but dozens of women have sued PornHub for profiting from child rape and exploitation material, making the company more than just deeply immoral, but highly illegal.
Pornographers are not alone in engaging in the dangerous but profitable tactic of targeting children. This is also reflected in the transgender movement. Transgender surgery is a $1.9 billion industry. Strategically targeting children who have not yet reached the age of majority and whose brains have not fully matured presents the transgender cult with a huge opportunity for manipulation. Whether those minors who undergo malformed surgeries end up continuing down that path or end up trying to undo the damage, Big Pharma has a new lifelong customer.
The pressure from the left to expose children to sexual content, from PornHub to Drag Queen Story Hour, has long been apparent to those paying attention. Last week’s showdown in Utah is only more confirmation.
The Utah law signed into law in March followed a similar Louisiana law passed last year. Arkansas and Mississippi have passed their own age verification laws, and several other states are considering similar bills.
At the federal level, a bill is currently pending in the US Congress that would introduce a similar age verification metric for pornographic websites nationwide. R-Utah Senator Mike Lee introduced the Shielding Children’s Retinas from Egregional Exposure on the Net (SCREEN) Act in December.
Allison Schuster is a contributor and former intern for The Federalist, as well as a proud 2021 graduate of Hillsdale College. Follow her on Twitter @allisonshoestor.