Age verification on porn sites is putting queer adult industry workers at risk

The laws requiring digital age checks — sold as child protection — are tanking the income of adult industry workers, risking their safety and even forcing them out of business.

By Jasmine Mithani for The 19th

Laws that require people to prove they’re 18 or older before accessing sexually explicit content online are threatening the livelihoods of creators of adult content — and queer and trans creators are being hit especially hard.

Twenty-five states have passed laws that require people to upload a picture of government identification, scan their face or confirm banking information before viewing sexual content. The laws most frequently apply to websites with at least one-third sexually explicit content, but recent bills passed are broader, possibly covering social media companies or an