EXCLUSIVE - Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., is accusing Pornhub of "preying on children" in a sharply worded letter Friday responding to the adult website's campaign against age-verification laws, arguing the company is more concerned about protecting its customer base than shielding minors from explicit content.
In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, Lankford rebuked Pornhub's July 28 message to state lawmakers opposing age-verification requirements, saying the company "has no interest in protecting children" and suggesting it fears losing users if minors are prevented from accessing its content.
"Pornhub preys on children," Lankford wrote in the letter directed to Solomon Friedman, a partner and the vice president of compliance for Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), the private equity firm that acquired MindGeek, the parent company of Pornhub, which has since been rebranded as Aylo.
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"It exposes them to horrific sexual content and does nothing to ensure that children are not sexually abused in the content it hosts," Lankford wrote. "Pornhub’s letter suggests that tech companies should be responsible for protecting children from pornography."
He continued, "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."
On July 28, Pornhub sent a letter to state lawmakers shared by the Tallahassee Democrat, criticizing age-verification laws like the one in Florida, one of at least 25 states to enact such requirements.
The pornography site wrote, "We are writing to you because, as a community, we are deeply concerned about the harm being caused by the performative, ineffective, and unenforceable age verification laws you have taken part in passing despite your intention of protecting minors. Everyone subjected to these laws is more at risk than ever before of encountering online harm."
Lankford cited research from the American Psychological Association indicating the average age of first exposure to pornography among boys is 13.37 years, with some children reporting exposure as young as 5. He argued that age-verification laws are a necessary step to reduce minors' access to explicit material while rejecting Pornhub's privacy concerns as overstated.
"Age verification laws are an important piece of making the internet safer for children," Lankford wrote. "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."
Lankford highlighted the Supreme Court’s affirmation of age verification laws in Free Speech Coalition vs. Paxton, which found that they do not cause an undue burden for adults and that states have a duty to protect minors from pornography.
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"Parents today face an uphill battle when it comes to protecting their children online," Lankford wrote. "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."
Pornhub provided the following statement to Fox News Digital:
"Senator Lankford and Pornhub completely agree — effective age verification needs to be in place to prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content on the internet. Unfortunately, the way the Senator proposes has been proven to be ineffective everywhere it’s been attempted, including in Oklahoma. Luckily, there is a solution that actually works with making every device kid safe by default, which is what we are advocating for in our letter. Our site is one of few that is currently complying with the law in Oklahoma, meaning the real risk to OK citizens of all ages lies on the hundreds of thousands of unregulated sites that remain accessible and are seeing increased traffic.
"We are the only free site that requires verification from uploaders as well as proof of consent from all depicted in content on our platform. The safety of our community is our top priority — this includes a zero-tolerance policy with respect to minors on our platform. We look forward to further addressing the Senator's concerns in our reply to him. While this issue may be new to some media and elected officials in Oklahoma, it is not new to us. We have been engaged on these issues for many years and have consistently advocated for effective, workable solutions. We are concerned by the tone and accusations contained in the Senator’s letter and would welcome the opportunity to ensure the Senator and his team have the full facts and context."
Fox News Digital also reached out to Friedman for comment.
The post Sen Lankford accuses Pornhub of 'preying on children' in blistering letter appeared first on FOX News
