文章來(lái)源：《經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人》Jul 15th 2023 期 United States 欄目 The internet

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“Is anyone else’s?Pornhub not working?” tweeted the mischievous grey-haired grandma and state senator L. Louise Lucas of Virginia on June 30th.?Mrs Lucas knew that the website would stop working for her and millions of Virginians that weekend.?Virginia, along with Mississippi, Utah and Louisiana, passed a law this year requiring users to prove they are an adult before accessing pornographic websites.?Arkansas, Montana and Texas have similar policies that will go into effect over the coming months.

“有人的Pornhub也不能用了嗎？” 6 月 30 日，弗吉尼亞州參議員路易斯·盧卡斯（一位白發(fā)奶奶）在推特上調(diào)皮地寫(xiě)道。盧卡斯奶奶知道這個(gè)網(wǎng)站將在那個(gè)周末關(guān)停，不再為她和數(shù)百萬(wàn)弗吉尼亞人服務(wù)。弗吉尼亞州、密西西比州、猶他州和路易斯安那州今年通過(guò)了一項(xiàng)法律，要求用戶(hù)在訪問(wèn)色情網(wǎng)站之前證明他們是成年人。阿肯色州、蒙大拿州和德克薩斯州也有類(lèi)似的政策，將在未來(lái)幾個(gè)月內(nèi)生效。

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Supporters of these laws claim that they will protect children.?“This is about not putting children in harm’s way,” says William Stanley, junior, a Virginia state senator and the bill’s author.?There is just one problem: the laws do not seem to work.

反色情法律的支持者聲稱(chēng)這些法律將保護(hù)兒童。弗吉尼亞州參議員、該法案的起草人威廉·斯坦利說(shuō)：“這是為了不讓兒童受到傷害?！钡幸粋€(gè)問(wèn)題：法律似乎不起作用。

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Lawmakers hoping to stop minors from watching pornography face several obstacles. First, porn enthusiasts of all ages seem intent on getting around the new laws. The day before Virginia’s policy went into effect on July 1st, interest in the search term “VPN”?(a virtual private network allows users to appear as if they are watching outside a state with age-verification laws)?spiked in Virginia.

立法者試圖阻止未成年人觀看色情內(nèi)容，但面臨著幾個(gè)障礙。首先，各個(gè)年齡段的色情愛(ài)好者似乎都有意繞過(guò)這些新法律。弗吉尼亞州法律于7月1日生效，而在此前一天，弗吉尼亞州“V-N”的搜索量激增。

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Those users who might be willing to follow the laws seem worried about companies or governments keeping records of their proclivities.?In Louisiana, a state-run identification programme called LA Wallet verifies a user’s age.?The other three states–Mississippi, Utah and Virginia–require websites to collect the sensitive data.

用戶(hù)愿意遵守法律，但他們似乎也擔(dān)心公司或政府會(huì)記錄他們的特殊癖好。路易斯安那州開(kāi)發(fā)一個(gè)LA Wallet身份識(shí)別程序，用于驗(yàn)證用戶(hù)的年齡。其他3個(gè)州——密西西比州、猶他州和弗吉尼亞州——要求網(wǎng)站收集敏感數(shù)據(jù)。

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Few adults want to out themselves as porn enthusiasts by offering up an ID (with full name, address, and photograph).?In any case, MindGeek has now pre-empted that by blocking access in some states that require age verification.?“We will not operate in jurisdictions that require that we put people’s private information at risk,” says Solomon Friedman, one of the owners of MindGeek, which owns several pornographic websites (and therefore has a commercial interest in making users feel as anonymous as possible online).

幾乎沒(méi)有成年人愿意提供身份證件（包括全名、地址和照片）來(lái)公開(kāi)表明自己是色情愛(ài)好者。不管怎樣，MindGeek 現(xiàn)已預(yù)先采取行動(dòng)，阻止了一些要求年齡驗(yàn)證的州的訪問(wèn)。MindGeek 的創(chuàng)始人之一所羅門(mén)·弗里德曼表示：“如果一些司法管轄區(qū)要求我們將用戶(hù)的隱私信息置于危險(xiǎn)之中，我們將不在那里開(kāi)展業(yè)務(wù)?！盡indGeek 擁有多個(gè)色情網(wǎng)站（因此讓用戶(hù)在網(wǎng)上隱身匿名是有商業(yè)利益的）。

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Why are state legislatures passing these ineffective laws, mostly with bipartisan support (and at times, unanimous backing)??It is just too awkward for politicians from either party to be seen to be casting a vote for porn.?“I think they’re concerned that someone’s going to accuse them of supporting…children seeing pornography,” says John Edwards, a Virginia state senator.?He and only two other legislators voted against Virginia’s bill.

為什么州立法機(jī)構(gòu)會(huì)通過(guò)這些無(wú)效的法律，大多數(shù)時(shí)候都得到兩黨支持（有時(shí)是一致支持）？對(duì)于任何一方的政客來(lái)說(shuō)，被認(rèn)為投票支持色情是非常尷尬的。弗吉尼亞州參議員約翰·愛(ài)德華茲說(shuō)：“我認(rèn)為他們擔(dān)心有人會(huì)指責(zé)他們支持......孩子們觀看色情內(nèi)容。”他和另外2名議員在弗吉尼亞州法案上投了反對(duì)票。

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Mandie Landry, a Louisiana state representative, says that her colleagues are afraid of negative campaign headlines.?“I can take a vote like that,” says Ms Landry, who represents a heavily Democratic district. “But my colleagues from rural areas can’t do it.”?She was the lone dissenting vote in Louisiana’s legislature.

路易斯安那州代表曼迪·蘭德里表示，她的同事們擔(dān)心負(fù)面頭條新聞會(huì)給競(jìng)選帶來(lái)影響?！拔铱梢酝斗磳?duì)票，”代表民主黨占多數(shù)選區(qū)的蘭德里女士說(shuō)?！暗珌?lái)自農(nóng)村地區(qū)的同事們不能這么做?！碧m德里是路易斯安那州立法機(jī)構(gòu)中唯一一位投反對(duì)票的人。

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American states are not alone in their struggle to come up with laws that work.?A similar law passed in Britain in 2017 has yet to be enforced.?Australia’s government is struggling to find suitable methods to verify age for its new policy.?On July 7th a French court postponed enforcement of a law that would have blocked porn sites.?“The intention behind these laws is good,” says Amanda Lenhart of Common Sense Media, which advocates for child safety in the media. But making them work is another matter.

美國(guó)各州不是制定無(wú)效法律的個(gè)例。英國(guó)2017年通過(guò)的類(lèi)似法律尚未實(shí)施。澳大利亞政府正在努力尋找合適的年齡驗(yàn)證方法以執(zhí)行其新政策。7月7日，法國(guó)一家法院推遲了一項(xiàng)封鎖色情網(wǎng)站法律的執(zhí)行?！俺ＷR(shí)媒體”（媒體兒童安全倡導(dǎo)組織）的阿曼達(dá)·倫哈特說(shuō)：“這些法律背后的初衷是好的”。但讓法律發(fā)揮作用又是另一回事。