Lankford Defends Age Verification Laws to Protect Children from Explicit Content

WASHINGTON, DC - US Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Chair of the Senate Values Action Team, today sent a letter to Pornhub after the company's July 28 letter urged state lawmakers to reject age verification laws that protect children from online explicit content.

You can read the full text of the letter HERE or below. Learn more in Fox News HERE.

Dear Mr. Friedman,

I write in response to the disgraceful letter Pornhub sent to state lawmakers on July 28^th. The letter strongly urged against passage of age verification laws and further revealed the fact that Pornhub has no interest in protecting children.

Pornhub preys on children. It exposes them to horrific sexual content and does nothing to ensure that children are not sexually abused in the content it hosts. Pornhub's letter suggests that tech companies should be responsible for protecting children from pornography. Lawmakers can and should hold tech companies accountable for the harm they pose to children. But that should not preclude state and federal lawmakers from holding platforms like Pornhub accountable for the harm it causes. Pornhub's letter fails to say the quiet part out loud: Pornhub would lose customers if children were prohibited from viewing its content.

The American Psychological Association found that the average age of pornography exposure among boys was 13.37 years old with the youngest exposure at 5 years old. 43.5% of men reported that their first exposure was accidental and 17.2% of men reported that their first exposure was forced. Our children, especially young boys, deserve better than this. It should not be controversial that children deserve a childhood that is free from pornography.

Age verification laws are an important piece of making the internet safer for children. It is not the only solution to combat this problem, but it is an important start. Pornhub's letter argues that age verification laws increase privacy risks for adults. But as you know, many state laws require platforms to delete personal information as soon as the age verification is complete. For example, Oklahoma law prohibits platforms from retaining any information after access is granted and imposes penalties on platforms who do not comply. The Age Verification Providers Association, which represents almost 30 organizations that provide age verification technology, have explained in detail the privacy protections that are built into these systems. These methods even complied with the EU's stringent privacy requirements and are no more invasive than an in-person age check.

The Supreme Court affirmed in Free Speech Coalition vs. Paxton that these types of laws do not unreasonably burden adults and that the state has a legitimate interest in protecting children from these images. Pornhub's letter complains that consumers do not want to go through age verification to access its content. But this is a small price to pay to protect children from harmful content.

My colleagues and I are working hard to address the harms to children online. We will not stop until we hold companies like Pornhub accountable. It is our duty to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

Parents today face an uphill battle when it comes to protecting their children online. Age verification is one simple step platforms can take to help preserve childhood innocence. This is especially true for platforms that host violent and perverse sexual content. Pornhub should be ashamed of its letter to state lawmakers and ashamed that they do nothing to protect children.

In God We Trust,

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