Adult World News

The US state of Louisiana has commenced a new law requiring porn websites to obtain identity/age verification before allow access to viewers. The law is not enforced by official censors. Instead it simply allows Louisiana to sue for damages for any harm claimed as a result of underage porn viewing. So how is it panning out in practice?

It is the second week of the new law. Vice has found that very few sites have actually implemented the age verification system. As it stands, only PornHub and OnlyFans check Louisiana's residents' ages, others don't.

This may have something to do with the way the age check is implemented: when you access PornHub from Louisiana, you're met with a screen asking you to verify your age. From there, you're redirected to AllPassTrust, a Cyprus-based company specialized in age verification. AllPassTrust links to LAWallet, the state of Louisiana's digital driver's license wallet, which provides you with a code that you need to enter on AllPassTrust.

The way it's looking now, only Louisiana drivers licenses are accepted for verification, which is a problem for anybody currently in the state that doesn't have one. Sure, practically everybody in the United States has a driver's license, but there are those who don't, and visitors or short-term residents of the state won't be able to verify their age since they won't have a license issued in Louisiana.

According to local Louisiana newspaper L'Observateur, opponents are already gearing up for a legal challenge.

The idea is spreading though. There are reports of national politicians proposing similar laws to Louisiana.

Also two Republican state senators in Arkansas introduced a bill this week requiring age verification before entering a website offering pornography. Senate Bill 66, which proposes a Protection of Minors from Distribution of Harmful Material Act, is sponsored by Sen. Tyler Dees and Sen. Jim Petty. The proposed legislation is a copycat version of Louisiana's new law.

Channel 4 is launching a brand new dating show with a raunchy new twist.

The channel is lining up a new show where couples will be encouraged to have internet connected virtual sex on their first date.

Contestants will be provided with Bluetooth sex toys so they can get intimate with each other online, and later meet in person if they strike up a connection.

A TV insider said: Channel 4 has aired some bizarre dating shows, but this will be the most outrageous.

Channel 4 made a pilot towards the end of last year and the next phase is screen-testing it to audiences. Under the working title Sex First , single people will be introduced to each other online as avatars before ramping up their chemistry by having online sex, thanks to the Bluetooth-synced sex toys. If the pairs like what they experience and enjoy their first sexual encounter together, they can then meet to see if the bond is just as compatible in real life.

Let's hope that the remote sex toy feed could be shared with a network dildo equipped audience. Now that would be fun.

Facebook and Instagram will allow transgender and non-binary users to flash their bare breasts -- but women who were born female are still not allowed a similar freedom, according to Meta's advisory board.

Meta's Oversight Board -- an independent body which Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has called the company's Supreme Court for content moderation and censorship policies -- ordered Facebook and Instagram to lift a ban on images of topless women for anyone who identifies as transgender or non-binary, meaning they view themselves as neither male or female.

The same image of female-presenting nipples would be prohibited if posted by a cisgender woman but permitted if posted by an individual self-identifying as non-binary, the board noted in its decision.

The board cited a recent decision to overturn a ban on two Instagram posts by a couple that describes themselves as transgender and non-binary that posed topless but covered their nipples -- only to have the post flagged by other users. Meta banned the image, but the couple won their appeal and the photo was restored online.

Meta will rely on human reviewers will now be tasked with trying to determine the sex of breasts.

Taiwan's Legislature has passed draft amendments to restrict the use of technology-enabled sexual images and video. The new laws will make the production and spread of such fake or manipulated images and video for profit a crime punishable by a jail term of up to seven years.

The draft bills were proposed after the arrest in 2021 of a Taiwanese YouTuber for making and selling deepfake pornographic videos of dozens of prominent women, including female politicians.

Under the approved legislation, producing sexual material involving images or video of another individual without that person's consent is subject to a maximum of three years in prison, while the unauthorized distribution of such material can result in a prison term of six months to five years. Anyone found guilty of distributing such content for profit faces an additional punishment of up to one half of the prescribed sentence.

Republican Louisiana state representative Laurie Schlegel pushed through her bill  HB 142 earlier this year requiring age verification for any website that contains 33.3% or more pornographic material. The law takes effect from 1st January 2023.

According to Schlegel, websites would normally verify someone's age in collaboration with LA Wallet. An app available for anyone who has a Louisiana state ID or driver's license. Other options are also allowed.

It will be the website's responsibility to ensure age verification is required when accessing their site in Louisiana. There are no censors to enforce the law, instead the law allows residents to sue porn sites for any claimed harm to children caused by viewing porn on a website without age verification.

There is legislation in Washington, D.C. that looks to implement something like this on a national level. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, introduced a bill similar to Schlegel's.

South Korean authorities have lifted an import ban on adult-sized sex dolls.

The Korea Customs Service gave the green light allow adult-shaped dolls through customs but added that child-like dolls resembling minors are still prohibited and will be confiscated.

There are no laws or regulations prohibiting the import of sex dolls into South Korea but since 2018 the customs service took it upon itself to confiscate thousands of them, citing a provision in the law that forbids the import of goods that harm the country's beautiful traditions and public moral.

The Supreme Court agreed in 2019 and upheld a decision that sex dolls are used for personal use and fall under the same category as pornography, which is tightly regulated, but legal. The court's decision caused a backlash and almost 250,000 people signed a petition to stop the import of the dolls into South Korea. The unnamed petition's author claimed the dolls could lead to an increase in sex crimes.

Common sense prevailed, however, and the customs service decided to lift the ban.