We've seen plenty of bad ideas such as article 13 by the EU, but the UK has a crazy one of their own. It’s a porn ban for those underage, and it’s going to affect everyone that’s of the right age, in a very damaging way.
Why the UK porn block is going to cause more damage than benefit?
We very often say that whenever something is free, that you tend to pay with the currency of privacy. And privacy, well that has been one of the most talked about concerns on the internet in the past few years. Matter of fact, just recently, Facebook developers accidentally leaked 540 million records.
The biggest reason behind why the UK Porn Block is going to cause more damage than benefit is that it will require you to share private information to verify that you are 18. Your identity can now be linked with what type of porn you watch, how long you watch it, and when you watch it.
If leaks didn’t happen, that wouldn’t be a reason to worry, but leaks do happen, and they happen more often than not with the difference between the leaks that happen now, and the leaks that will happen when it comes to porn is that this is very sensitive information.
Facebook doesn’t ask you to verify yourself with a passport. You will need to do that on porn sites, and that’s why the UK porn block is going to cause more damage than benefit.
People watch porn. Whether it’s a game of Thrones actor, a famous singer, or just your friend, whether people talk about it openly or not, people watch porn. We live in a world where it’s not okay to do so even though so many do it.
And what if you are famous and need to verify your data. What if those get exposed?
The biggest problem with the fact you need to give away your data is that the UK government is letting porn sites use 3rd party systems with one of the systems being developed being owned by some of the most popular porn sites on the planet. Why are porn sites creating systems themselves if 3rd party systems exist? As they want data.
The second reason behind why the UK porn block is going to cause more damage than benefit is that it’s not even possible to ban porn.
It’s impossible to truly ban a site unless it’s banned in every country on the planet. China invests a tremendous amount of money into blocking American social media platforms, yet at the end of the day, it’s still possible to access these sites in China. People search for how to unblock DAZN and how to make Hulu work, and with a few clicks they find out exactly how to do it.
Do you want to unblock porn in the UK? All you need is PrivateVPN which will change your location to be outside of the UK, but that will also let you watch American Netflix in the UK, along with Hulu, DAZN, and HBO NOW just to name a few.
But even if somehow every country decided to ban porn, there are so many porn sites out there that it would be impossible to remove all that don’t follow the rules.
The whole purpose of the UK porn block was to prevent underage people from watching porn, yet this block is going to encourage such behavior.
Look at Colorado, when cannabis started to be legalized in the state, the use of it within the teens in the state fell down. When Portugal decriminalized drugs in 2001, the use of drugs for people between 15-24 fell down, and while there for sure a lot of factors affecting such results such as internet becoming popular and allowing for easier spread of information, if you look at studies of legalization or decriminalization around the world, the links are pretty clear. When something is legal/non-criminal then the overall desire of youngsters to possess internet legal/non-criminal subject/object decreases.
The desire to watch porn and access porn is now likely to increase.
When you are young and really want to do something, you will find a way. Teens will go through the internet trying to find where they can fake ID to verify their accounts. That will give teenagers access to most pubs, making it a 2-in-1 package. Alternatively, they will search for porn sites until they find one or until they find a way to access them, and some cases, that might lead teens to go to the dark web, and that’s where real problems begin. That’s where content that young people really shouldn’t see most likely is around.
You need to use a VPN which will trick porn sites into thinking that you are outside of the UK.
By using a VPN you avoid providing data to porn sites and thus protect yourself from leaks that will eventually happen sooner or later.
When you use PrivateVPN, you can also unblock Hulu, DAZN, and the likes of American Netflix by connecting to the right server, and if you love entertainment, that might be a double win for you.
Blocking porn is impossible and the risk of trying to do so, it’s great. All it takes is one leak. That’s why it’s important to use a VPN to access porn in the UK, even if you are over 18. Once that data is released, it’s out there.
It only takes 60-seconds to create a VPN account.
Written by Michael Smolski.