The War on Porn Regular Updates about the Assault on The Adult Industry
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Something shifted in the room last week, and you could feel it before anyone said a word. The kind of tension that creeps up your spine when people realize a line has been crossed. Alarm is spreading across the adult industry over new record-keeping and consent rules tied to adult content production and user access in Alabama, and that anxiety boiled over after a series of legal panels at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.
At the center of the panic is a sweeping state law that folds age verification, a statewide 10 percent “sin” tax on pornography, and a wider web of regulation into one heavy package. For producers, the most immediate shock is a new demand that written consent documentation be notarized by a notary public, as directed by the Alabama Secretary of State.
The legislation, House Bill (HB) 164, tucks this requirement into the state’s deceptive trade practices statutes, a placement that feels almost casual given how disruptive the impact could be.
The law reads, “Any commercial entity, before knowingly publishing or distributing a private image […] through an adult website, shall obtain written consent to publish or distribute the private image from every individual depicted in the private image.
“The written consent required by this section shall be signed by the individual depicted and sworn to by a notary public,” the law further decrees. “The commercial entity shall maintain records of the written consent for not less than five calendar years following the publication or distribution of the private image.”
What’s missing, conspicuously, is guidance. No major regulatory clarification has come down from the state, leaving the notary requirement sitting in a gray zone that some believe could be worked around. In theory, studios could hire an in-house notary licensed in Alabama or elsewhere, assuming that person can legally perform notarial acts. In practice, that’s easier said than done.
Even with workarounds, the pressure mounts. Creators, producers, and studios are already feeling the weight of added friction, cost, and uncertainty. Several platforms are now warning users about written consent requirements, and many have begun restricting—or outright blocking—users tied to Alabama IP addresses.
It’s a familiar move. Parent companies behind major platforms like Pornhub have already chosen to geo-block nearly half the country in response to age-gating laws. When compliance becomes a minefield, the simplest option is often to shut the gate entirely.
First Amendment attorney Corey Silverstein, who represents adult industry clients, didn’t mince words when discussing Alabama’s approach.
“One could argue that Alabama created one of the most aggressive age verification laws because it included mandatory health warnings,” he said. “Alabama’s law is so burdensome to website operators that it’s no surprise that they are simply closing their doors to Alabama content creators.
“This goes to the heart of my continued position that these laws have nothing to do with protecting minors,” he continued. “States like Alabama want to control what a person can view or publish and completely ignore the First Amendment. Sadly, Alabama enacted a law so burdensome that it has achieved its nefarious goal of eliminating content it deems unsuitable.”
Silverstein shared those concerns during a legal panel at the expo, alongside Lawrence Walters of Walters Law Group, as the room wrestled with a question no one seems ready to answer out loud: when regulation becomes this heavy, is the point compliance—or disappearance?
