Porn Vilification and Age Verification: Regulating Online Pornography and Sex Work

Abstract

Abstract: This commentary presents regulatory mechanisms recently proposed or passed by countries around the world requiring providers of online pornography to implement age-verification technologies. Canada's "Protecting Young Persons from Exposure to Pornography" Act (PYPEPA) is presented as a key exemplar of the problematic discourses used to construct pornography and sex work as dangerous that contribute to the creation of harmful and ineffective legislation with far-reaching consequences for the sex work community. PYPEPA and other presented legislation demonstrate a pattern of moralistic policies rooted in problematic discourses and fundamental misunderstandings of the sex work industry, which persist despite evidence of their growing harm. This problematic framing of online pornography creates a perceived need for the government to "do something", resulting in punitive policies that have far-reaching consequences. While proponents of these bills are attempting to reduce the potential for harm on children who access to online pornography, the stated goals of the legislation suggest that they are unnecessarily concerned with defining acceptable categories of sexuality. Alternatives to the vilification of online pornography, with the mutually-aligned goal of limiting the potential for harm, are explored as a better way forward.