AVPA calls for layered age assurance ecosystem in response to Pornhub

Three unquestionably popular views have emerged from the ongoing debate around biometric age assurance. The first, expressed by a majority of parents, is that age-restricted content online should be harder for their kids to access. The second, expressed by the majority of platforms and operating systems, is that the best model is to make it someone else’s problem.

The third, and most sacrosanct, is that we all must think of the children.

A new open letter from adult content platform Pornhub, a brand owned by Aylo, marries the second and third opinions in a plea to U.S. lawmakers to move on from laws requiring platform-level age checks on pornographic websites. The tone and terminology are immediately recognizable as the cry of the mortified scold: “as a community, we are deeply concerned about the harm being caused by the performative, ineffective, and unenforceable age verification laws you have taken part in passing despite your intention of protecting minors,” Pornhub says, noting that we all must think of the children.

“These laws demonstrably do not work and, as a result, have put your constituents’ children and adults’ personal data at risk. If you truly intend to protect minors online, you must acknowledge the facts and introduce a real solution.”

The tee-up could not be more perfect, as the argument returns to its goal: “You have the power and the responsibility to mandate operating system providers like Apple, Microsoft and Google to render all mobile phones, tablets and computers child safe by enabling parental controls at the source and by default,” says Pornhub, suggesting it should be someone else’s problem.

Pornhub is counting on the letter to catch the updraft of recent legislative developments that have put the responsibility for age assurance at the app store or OS level. It cites its model in the UK, where it has opened up exclusive access to Apple users, as a success that offers the highest level of protection: “adult sites are blocked by default, and VPNs do not work to circumvent these blocks.”

Age checks at the bar, not the mall entrance

In its response to the open letter, the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) agrees that device-level assurance measures are a good idea – but says that viewing them as a substitution for platform-level checks is “a false choice.”

“Effective online safety requires a layered approach where every part of the ecosystem plays its part, rather than transferring all responsibility and liability away from the adult platforms,” it says – “which, incidentally, are where the economic gains and risks ultimately lie.”

AVPA uses the analogy of a shopping mall to illustrate its point. “You would not rely on an age check at the entrance to a shopping centre to control access to every age-restricted venue within it,” it says. “The relevant check normally happens when someone enters a casino or, even more narrowly, at the point they buy alcohol, because that is where the particular risk and responsibility arise.” This proximity principle puts a warning as close as possible to the source of risk; a sign warning of an open hole 20 miles ahead is less useful than one placed beside the hole.

AVPA also notes – almost wearily, it would seem – that “an independent age assurance provider can conduct the check and return only a simple ‘over-18’ result to the destination site, without collecting, disclosing or retaining identity documents or personal data on the website itself.”

One of the most consistently deployed arguments against age assurance is that it prompts the growth of the market for noncompliant sites that kids will turn to as alternatives, putting themselves at greater risk. Putting aside that a huge chunk of Pornhub’s content is designed to imply the thrill of incest and that social media has become a primary vehicle for child sexual exploitation, there is also the fact that the equivalent can apply to devices, which may be hacked, stolen or otherwise modified to turn off parental controls. Any risk, once mitigated, is likely to remain a delicious temptation to those interested in illegality; the lizard brain finds a way.

Ultimately, the debate boils down to two basic positions. Pornhub, Facebook, TikTok, Apple, Google, and just about every other affected platform want to make age verification someone else’s problem. Conversely, the established market of biometric age assurance providers is asking for it to be theirs – at least in part. “Real child protection means device, app store and publisher each carrying a proportionate share of the effort, applied where appropriate for each use-case, not the commercial adult industry shifting its own responsibilities to unconnected global corporations,” AVPA says.

“Transferring responsibility exclusively to three operating system providers creates a single point of failure, concentrated market power and, some may also fear, even more data harvesting opportunities, while excusing adult platforms completely from their duty of care.”

Article Topics

age verification  |  app store age verification  |  AVPA  |  Aylo  |  device-based age verification  |  OS-level age verification