If it’s been a minute since you tried to look at something spicy online, you may have missed the Online Safety Act, which was signed into law back in 2023, coming into effect on 25 July 2025. It’s actually been rumbling away since 2017, when it was called the “Digital Economy Act”.
The Government is now censoring online content in the name of protecting children. All very laudable, but the upshot is that we now have to scan our faces or upload pictures of our passports if we want to look at anything vaguely rude on the internet, so most of it.
Many other people have already pointed out the limitations of the Act, namely that it also censors sex education sites, as well as social media sites, music sites, and dating apps. It’s also very easy to get around with the use of a VPN, not to mention the fact that it’s a data breach bonanza waiting to happen.
And just who is keeping all this sensitive content we will now hand over safely, anyway? Well, in many cases, it’s the porn companies themselves. Porn Hub, Red Tube, and YouPorn are now using Allpasstrust to verify users, which seems OK until you realise that both Allpasstrust and those same porn sites are all owned by Aylo Freesites Ltd. So, porn sites are now actually collecting and storing your data themselves. Genius.
But I think what has irked me even more than that is Technology Secretary Peter Kyle posting: “If you want to overturn the Online Safety Act, you are on the side of predators. It is as simple as that.” A line of reasoning echoed by Home Office minister Jess Phillips, who said that repealing the act would empower “modern-day Jimmy Saviles”.
Equating not wanting to hand over highly sensitive personal data to a global porn company with enabling the sexual abuse of children seems reductive at best, and stupid at worst. What I wouldn’t give for an honest, adult conversation around porn instead of this performative pearl clutching. When it comes to pornography, we are a nation of hypocrites, and sneaky hypocrites at that.
According to research, around 85 per cent of adults have watched porn at some point in their lives, and personally, I think the other 15 per cent are lying. It’s something most of us do, and I sorely believe the entire conversation around online pornography would be improved with less shame and more honesty.
Personally, I think the Online Safety Act is a rather pointless piece of legislation, designed to create an illusion of safety while seriously encumbering anyone who wants to update their Spotify list or sign up to Grindr. However, I am 100 per cent behind the idea of uploading credit card details each time we want to watch porn online, for the simple reason that I believe porn should be paid for. I pay for the books that I read, I pay for the music I listen to, and I damn well pay for the porn that I watch.
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Wouldn’t this entire hysterical debacle be resolved with the very simple agreement that if you want to watch In Diana Jones or Drive This Miss Daisy, you need to put your hand in your pocket first? No, not that like, you mucky pup.
But seriously, why has free porn ever been morally acceptable? We have been warned about the illegality and immoral nature of ripping off music, books, and movies for years, but when it comes to uploading and watching pornography for free, no one seems to bat an eyelid. In fact, the only thing being objected to by the Government is that children are accessing it as well, and to be fair, that concern is well-founded.
According to the Children’s Commissioner for England, 38 per cent of young adults have seen porn online. Interestingly, most of them have seen it on X (formerly known as Twitter), but after that, it’s being viewed on free porn platforms, like Pornhub, RedTube, and XHamster, sites that pull in billions of views each year. Last year, Pornhub alone clocked up 11.4 billion views worldwide. That is a whole lot of free porn going on, and that means there are a whole lot of adult filmmakers who haven’t seen anything close to the money they should have done.
So here is a suggestion: close down the free porn sites and make people pay for it, not as a punishment or some kind of digital scarlet letter, but because it is the right thing to do. Paying for porn not only means that the people making and distributing that content are properly recompensed for their work, but it has the added benefit of preventing children from accessing it, or, at the very least, makes it much harder to do so.
I do not have any moral objection to anyone watching porn, as long as everyone in it is a consenting adult, and as long as it’s paid for. Free sites have long been highly exploitative, not only because pirated content can be easily uploaded, but because users can also upload footage of their partners without their consent, a crime known as “revenge porn”.
Pornhub says it has brought in new measures to prevent the sharing of such material, but it remains a serious concern. It’s also worth remembering that it launched back in 2007, so, in this writer’s opinion, Pornhub has certainly taken its damn time to fully address this.
A great deal of outrage has been manufactured around platforms like OnlyFans, sites that allow adult creators to distribute directly to a paying audience, but I am all for it. Yes, there is still a third party in the mix because OnlyFans wants their cut, but this is how porn should be done. If you want it, you pay for it.
The money goes directly to the creator, which in turn means they can potentially make a living. The viewer is both traceable and protected by standard consumer rights. It also means you can invest in and support companies that focus on your own niche kink and those that prioritise the consent and wellbeing of their performers. Let’s face it, you have no idea if the people you see in the videos on pirated sites are OK.
You can object to porn on moral grounds if you like, but that is a different argument from respecting and protecting the labour rights of those who are making it. They deserve to be safe, they deserve to be paid, and they have the right to control the distribution of their material.
I like to think that most sane people agree that children should not be watching adult content, but can we also agree that the people who make it should be paid properly and not find their work blasted across free porn sites? Which brings me back to my original point: we are sneaky hypocrites when it comes to porn, and that largely boils down to shame and embarrassment.
Free sites are hugely popular, not only because they are free, but because they do not require a user’s credit card details, making users virtually anonymous. And why do people want to be anonymous? Shame. If we could stop pretending that we don’t consume this content and manufacturing outrage at those who do, we might actually be able to solve the issue of who is looking at what.
Rather than forcing everyone to upload private information in order to access social media, we could openly and honestly talk about viewing adult content and the benefits of paying for it, instead of turning to the plethora of free smut the internet has to offer.
Safety Act or no Safety Act, the only ethical porn is the porn that you pay for.
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