A law that went into effect Saturday in Virginia requires pornographic websites to take additional authentication measures to prevent minors from accessing this content.
Legislative piece SB1515 provides that adult websites must now require identification of people who want to consume this content. However, residents claim that this is also accessible through social networks.
“Sometimes your own friends on Facebook tag you with emoji links and you click on them and something else appears that is like pornography,” explained Magali Vázquez.
Others seem to have found a way around this law by using so-called free or paid VPN connections. Establishing an anonymous connection or blocking advertising are also ways around this rule in the state, according to Mike Stabile of the Free Speech Coalition.
However, this tool is not new and its use is generally for legitimate purposes.
“What we recommend is to put filters on the device like phones, computers and tablets,” Stabile said.
The spokesman added that in the black market there are people who even sell their IDs for Bitcoins or other values, facilitating the violation of these filters.
For their part, experts emphasize the importance of having open communication with their children and constantly monitoring what they do online, to try to minimize their access to this type of content.
