Pornhub plans to block access to its website in Indiana, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, and Nebraska in response to age verification laws designed to prevent children from accessing adult websites. The website has now cut off access in more than half a dozen states in protest of similar age verification laws.

While users in these states can just use a VPN, the real scary part is the precedent these age verification laws present to end online anonymity. As the number of things requiring KYC ID spreads, it has chilling effects on free speech. And ironically, it is US politicians who are abusing minors with the pornographic pizzagate.

The only hope is that enough people get so pissed off they can’t masturbate without setting the VPN to such a far off location that it slows the videos, that eventually Americans can wake up to free speech. It’s sad, but I think “slow porn” stands a better chance of converting people than Nostr.