BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s National Data Protection Authority, known as the ANPD, on Friday opened a public consultation focused on age verification systems under the country’s Digital Statute for Children and Adolescents, or Digital ECA. The law requires adult websites to verify the ages of users located in Brazil, and regulators are now moving deeper into the details of how that process could work in practice. It’s the kind of policy rollout that sounds technical on paper, but behind the scenes, it touches everything from privacy concerns to platform compliance.

According to a statement released by the ANPD, the consultation began Friday and will continue through July 9. The process is intended to update the agency’s preliminary guidelines on age verification, which were first published in March. Regulators appear to be refining the framework as feedback continues to come in from companies, legal experts and members of the public.

ANPD Superintendent of Regulation Lucas Borges de Carvalho said, “The Age Verification Guide is an important milestone for the implementation of the Digital ECA. The guidelines presented to society in this consultation seek to establish the regulatory conditions for guaranteeing the rights of children and adolescents in the digital environment and to provide greater predictability and legal certainty in the implementation of the new rules.”

Earlier this year, the ANPD also sought public comment on the broader interpretation and application of the Digital ECA. That consultation, which remains ongoing until June 15, is aimed at clarifying how the law applies to suppliers of information technology products and services, including providers of adult content. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the legislation into law in March, setting the stage for a new regulatory framework that reaches well beyond Brazil’s borders.

The law requires providers of adult content to use age verification measures that go beyond simple self-declaration, and it applies regardless of where a website operator is based. Alongside the preliminary guidance on implementation, the ANPD has also outlined a phased compliance strategy as enforcement expands. Stage 1, which is currently underway, includes the public consultation process now taking place.

According to the ANPD, the final version of the age verification guide will build on the preliminary recommendations and address “the digital chain of responsibilities and specific requirements for the use of technical solutions such as facial recognition and document verification.” Those technologies have increasingly become part of the global conversation around online age checks — useful to some, concerning to others, and complicated for nearly everyone involved.

Individuals who want to submit comments, questions or suggestions through the consultation portal may still do so during the review period. Non-Brazilian participants using the system are required to provide passport information as part of the submission process.

Adult Attorney Corey Silverstein wrote a piece on XBIZ.com about Alabama’s adult content laws.

Here is a summary of the article:

Alabama has emerged as one of the most restrictive states for the adult entertainment industry following the passage of House Bill 164 and related enforcement measures. The state has imposed a layered regulatory system that includes a 10% tax on adult-content revenue, strict age verification mandates and notarized performer consent requirements. Critics within the industry argue that these laws go beyond ordinary regulation and instead create an environment so burdensome that companies and creators are effectively pushed out of the state. The article argues that the combined effect of these policies raises serious constitutional concerns, particularly involving the First Amendment and the protection of lawful adult expression.

A central focus of the law is the 10% tax placed on gross revenue tied to adult content. Unlike neutral sales taxes, this levy specifically targets material classified as “harmful to minors,” applying to subscriptions, memberships and other monetized adult services. The article notes that this content-based taxation may violate constitutional protections because it singles out protected speech for special financial penalties. The statute also creates confusion over how the tax applies across state lines, particularly when performers, platforms and subscribers are located in different jurisdictions. Because the law provides little clarity, many companies reportedly view compliance as too risky and have chosen to stop operating in Alabama altogether.

The article also highlights Alabama’s aggressive age verification requirements, which compel adult websites to use methods such as government-issued identification, biometric verification or third-party authentication systems to confirm users are over 18. While intended to prevent minors from accessing adult content, these requirements raise privacy concerns for both users and platforms. Companies face legal exposure if verification systems fail, even unintentionally, while users may be reluctant to provide sensitive personal information online. On top of these obligations, Alabama now requires performer consent documents to be notarized, adding another administrative burden that particularly affects independent creators and international performers. The article describes this requirement as an unusually formal and costly compliance hurdle.

The piece concludes that Alabama’s laws collectively function less as ordinary regulation and more as a system designed to suppress the adult industry altogether. It points to public comments from Alabama State Representative Ben Robbins celebrating the withdrawal of major adult platforms from the state as evidence that lawmakers may be seeking to eliminate access to adult content rather than simply protect minors. According to the article, these measures could face constitutional challenges involving the First Amendment, the Dormant Commerce Clause and privacy protections. Whether courts ultimately uphold or strike down the laws may shape how other states pursue similar regulations in the future.

The entire article is here.

A little over a month ago, I wrote an article about “the shot not yet fired” in the War on Porn, referencing a pledge then-presidential candidate Donald Trump signed back in 2016, averring to “uphold the rule of law by aggressively enforcing existing federal laws…including the federal obscenity laws.”

The gist of my piece was that while, 10 years later, Trump has shown no signs of fulfilling the terms of his pledge, the notion of doing so might make a sudden return, driven in part by a desire to improve his flagging poll numbers and shore up his support among evangelical Christian voters. After all, some of these voters have been wavering a bit in their unquestioning Trump fealty, particularly in the aftermath of Trump posting an image in which he appeared to equate himself with Christ.

Earlier this week, as you might have read, it was reported that Indiana Sen. Jim Banks penned a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche imploring Blanche to ratchet up enforcement of federal obscenity laws.

Noting that he had written a similar letter seven years ago, Blanche asserted that in the interim, “online obscenity has proliferated – and been democratized.”

“It is neither healthy nor safe for sexual content to be so pervasive,” Blanche wrote, presumably clutching his pearls in one hand, a copy of a Playboy magazine with Donald Trump gracing the cover in his other, while typing with his nose. “A wide and intellectually diverse coalition has long warned that pornography carries consequences for children, adults, and communities. Pornography damages the mental and relational well-being of those who consume it and exploits those who participate in creating it.”

“You can stop this,” Blanche asserted. “Obscenity has long been proscribed in the common law tradition and is not protected by the First Amendment. Federal law prohibits the distribution of obscene material, including over the internet. It is a crime to create and disseminate child pornography, as well as content that is obscene for adults. It is also a crime to knowingly display obscene content for children and to mislead minors into viewing adult content or adults into viewing generally obscene content.”

The paragraph above is technically true, so far as it goes, but as those who deplore sexually explicit expression consistently do, Banks conflates illegal “obscenity” – a legal status the state must establish at trial, on a case-by-case basis – with “pornography,” a far broader category that presumably enjoys the protection of the First Amendment.

As the existence of his previous letter to the first Trump Administration demonstrates, Banks banging on this drum doesn’t necessarily mean the Department of Justice will start dancing to that rhythm.  But, with Trump’s approval rating currently circling the toilet bowl, he might decide that dispatching a team of Decency Warriors to federal court would be a good way to gin up some enthusiasm among social conservatives in his base. Of course, in so doing, he might lose some of the ‘angry young man’ types who backed him in the 2024 election, seeing as how young men (angry and otherwise) are well-represented in porn’s fan base, too.

So, will Banks’ letter move the needle and inspire a new round of federal obscenity prosecutions? It’s hard to say, naturally. But referencing the fact the Obscenity Task Force was shut down under the Obama Administration probably helps his cause. After all, Trump seems to be on a mission to undo everything done under his Democratic predecessors (and many of his Republican predecessors, too), so that might just be the carrot that leads the big orange horse to water.

As Trump himself is quite fond of saying, we’ll see what happens.

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California ruled Tuesday that Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub.com, must continue defending claims brought under the California Invasion of Privacy Act, or CIPA, in a case centered on online tracking technologies and user data collection.

The decision, issued by U.S. District Judge Wesley Hsu of the Central District of California, stems from a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that Aylo used digital marketing tools that collected information tied to users’ pornography viewing habits, raising claims of privacy violations under California law.

Plaintiffs Scott Adair, Kent Henderson and Tarris Wallace filed suit against Aylo and several affiliated companies, including its Ireland-based entity, during the summer of 2025. The case was initially filed in Los Angeles Superior Court before Aylo transferred it to federal court in the Central District of California.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, the adult entertainment industry was alerted by the Free Speech Coalition to a growing number of legal complaints targeting adult platforms over the use of standard online marketing and analytics technologies. In this case, the plaintiffs argue that Aylo violated its own terms of service through the use of what the complaint describes as “third-party tracking technologies” on the Pornhub website.

The technologies referenced in the suit are widely used across digital publishing and advertising. They include Google Analytics as well as internal tracking systems developed by Aylo to collect user experience data and generate content recommendations.

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the Aylo defendants:

…“intercept[ed], read and analyz[ed] a range of highly sensitive and identifying information, including (1) specific video titles a user has selected and played; (2) any sexual orientation categories navigated (e.g., transgender, gay, bisexual); (3) explicit and detailed scene-specific attributes of the videos (such as the presence of named pornographic performers, the production type like ‘amateur,’ ‘homemade’ or ‘doggy style,’ or whether the video was made in a specific country such as ‘Japan’); (4) any search terms entered by the user into the Pornhub Website search bar, including even sensitive queries like ‘Asian teen girl’ or ‘young black teens’; and (5) details about products viewed or purchased on the Website’s online shop, including item categories, names, and price.”

The plaintiffs argue that users may have been exposed simply by visiting the site. In a minutes order issued Tuesday, Hsu stated that no federal class action has yet been certified, but said the federal court remains the proper venue for the litigation.

“As to the reasonable expectation of privacy, [the] plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that users would reasonably expect [the] defendants not to track their highly sensitive private information related to Plaintiffs’ pornography viewing habits,” Hsu wrote. “Plaintiffs have also plausibly alleged that users would not expect Defendants to use that highly sensitive private information to build detailed profiles pertaining to users.”

The judge added, “Additionally, [the] plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that the alleged data collection plausibly defies social norms. … Plaintiffs have alleged that they did not consent to the alleged data collection. Without this consent, it is reasonable to infer [that the] Plaintiffs were unaware [and that] defendants were collecting data pertaining to Plaintiffs’ highly sensitive pornographic search terms and purchases.”

Under California’s privacy law, violations can involve intentionally recording or monitoring confidential communications without the consent of all parties involved. The statute also addresses the use of software or devices that intercept or track communications, including website interactions, without legally required disclosure or permission.

The plaintiffs contend that users were not sufficiently informed that their data could be tracked through marketing technologies such as Google Analytics. Under CIPA, alleged violations can carry financial penalties if proven in court.

KYIV — The Security Service of Ukraine and national law enforcement agencies said they uncovered a corruption scheme involving regional police officials who allegedly accepted bribes in exchange for ignoring underground pornography production operations and adult content creators in several regions of the country.

The case comes as members of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s unicameral parliament, continue discussions on proposals that would decriminalize pornography.

According to local reports, the investigation implicated the police chief of the Ivano-Frankivsk region and his deputy, as well as two deputy police chiefs from the Ternopil and Zhytomyr regions. Authorities also identified a fifth suspect described as the personal driver of a deputy interior minister, who allegedly acted as an intermediary and courier in the scheme.

Investigators allege the five suspects received monthly payments of up to $25,000 per studio in exchange for shielding adult content producers from law enforcement scrutiny.

Authorities said criminal investigators seized six luxury vehicles, five Swiss watches, and approximately $510,000 while carrying out searches connected to the investigation.

The investigation remains ongoing, according to a Wednesday statement from the office of Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko. “This refers to premises where illegal erotic and pornographic video content was created, produced, and distributed via the internet,” Kravchenko said in the release. “Today, investigative actions are being conducted simultaneously in three main departments of the National Police.”

“The goal of the operation is to identify all officials who may have been involved in the scheme, to verify the role of each, and to provide a legal assessment of the actions of police leaders who, instead of combating crime, may have been covering it up,” Kravchenko added.

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are turning up the pressure on companies behind so-called “nudify” artificial intelligence platforms, and the message coming out of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission this week was hard to miss.

FTC Chair Andrew N. Ferguson confirmed Wednesday that the agency sent warning letters to 12 companies tied to the operation of AI-driven nudification services. The companies were not publicly identified, but the move was framed as part of a broader effort to enforce compliance with the Take It Down Act.

“Today we’re demonstrating just how serious we are about protecting the public, especially children, from abusive online conduct,” Ferguson said in a press statement. “Platforms no longer have any excuses—they must comply with their obligations under the Take It Down Act or face the consequences.”

The federal enforcement push formally began May 19, marking the start of implementation for the Take It Down Act, which was signed into law nearly a year ago. The law establishes federal criminal penalties for publishing non-consensual intimate imagery, including AI-generated deepfakes created without a person’s consent.

Under the law, platforms are required to follow a strict notice-and-removal process. Once notified, companies generally have 48 hours to remove the reported content. The warning letters sent to the companies were signed by Christopher G. Mufarrige, who leads the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.

“The FTC’s May 20 warning letters show that the agency is not waiting for a long ramp-up period,” cautioned Corey Silverstein in a legal alert. “The compliance deadline has passed, and the FTC has begun identifying businesses that appear to lack the required removal process.”

Silverstein added, “Businesses should not wait until they receive a warning letter. The FTC has expressly stated that violations may be treated as violations of an FTC rule and may result in civil penalties.”

At roughly the same time, Australia’s online safety regulator also moved against a nudification platform. Julie Inman Grant, the country’s eSafety Commissioner, announced enforcement action against an unnamed service for allegedly failing to comply with industry codes governing online safety. The office issued what is known as a Direction to Comply order, giving the company 14 days to address the concerns or potentially face penalties worth millions.

“The popularity of this ‘nudify’ platform and the ease of which children can access it is deeply concerning,” Grant said. “These are services that enable the creation of sexually explicit content involving real people and are extremely caustic to adults (mostly women) but also pose an unacceptable risk to children.”

Reflecting on the Australian action, Silverstein said the regulatory direction is becoming increasingly clear across multiple jurisdictions.

“The action reinforces a broader regulatory trend: AI services that generate or enable sexualized deepfake content are being treated as high-risk services requiring proactive safety controls, age-appropriate access restrictions, and documented compliance processes.”

WASHINGTON — The fight over online adult content never really disappears in Washington. It just changes shape, changes names, and circles back around again. This week, it arrived in the form of a letter from Sen. Jim Banks, an Indiana Republican urging the U.S. Department of Justice to revive federal obscenity prosecutions and take aim at platforms including OnlyFans.

The letter, addressed to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, was first reported Tuesday by the New York Post.

“Ending obscenity prosecution was a mistake. With explicit content only a click away, there has never been a more important time to enforce our laws,” Banks wrote. Throughout the letter, he calls on Blanche and the administration of Donald J. Trump to restore the Bush-era Obscenity Prosecution Task Force and increase enforcement efforts targeting what he describes as “obscenity.”

“The porn industry has been complicit in child abuse and violence toward women while raking in billions,” Banks posted on X. “Obscenity laws are still good law. It’s time to restart obscenity prosecutions and protect children online.”

Banks points specifically to OnlyFans as an example of how, in his view, “online obscenity has proliferated.” He also repeats disputed claims that pornography harms “the mental and relational well-being” of consumers and exploits performers involved in its creation.

He further argues that “OnlyFans has been exposed for allowing minors to sell explicit videos and for featuring child sex abuse content. The site hosts other kinds of extreme and dangerous sexual content, including videos involving bestiality, incest, and acts that demean women. … It is neither healthy nor safe for sexual content to be so pervasive.”

A spokesperson for OnlyFans declined to comment on the letter. Still, earlier efforts urging the Department of Justice to investigate the platform and its parent company, Fenix International Limited, have not resulted in federal action. For critics of the effort, that history suggests the latest push may have more political symbolism than practical consequence.

The original federal obscenity task force was established in 2005 during the administration of George W. Bush. Its purpose was to pursue cases involving what prosecutors at the time classified as hardcore obscene material. But despite the attention surrounding it, the initiative struggled to produce meaningful results.

Legal scholar Geoffrey R. Stone, the Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School, noted in a 2022 article for the First Amendment Law Review that federal obscenity prosecutions between 2001 and 2005 totaled fewer than 10.

That number remained largely unchanged until the task force was shut down in 2011. One of the best-known failures involved adult filmmaker John Stagliano, founder of Evil Angel. Stagliano was indicted in 2008 on obscenity charges but ultimately succeeded in having the case dismissed.

At the time, Mark Kernes reported that the judge overseeing the case described the prosecution’s evidence as “woefully inadequate.”

Banks’ latest letter does not reference the federal government’s past struggles in securing obscenity convictions. James Felton, who serves as legal counsel for the Adult Performance Artists Guild, said in an email that he sees the renewed push as distracting from larger policy concerns facing Congress.

“His actions intend to make a direct hit on free speech and the rights of performers to earn a living,” Felton said.

“OnlyFans and similar sites have provided a much-needed business opportunity for performers to earn a living at a time when the economy poses challenges for performers and non-performers,” he added. “Congress should devote its time to solving much more important issues than pornography.”

This is not the first time Banks has pursued the issue. He sent a similar letter to the Department of Justice in 2019, though no enforcement action followed.

Other lawmakers have also pushed federal authorities to investigate adult platforms over the years with little visible effect. Among them is Ann Wagner, a Republican congresswoman from eastern Missouri who has repeatedly urged the Justice Department to investigate OnlyFans and similar companies.

Wagner sent two letters in 2021 and later told Reuters in 2024 that OnlyFans was facilitating sex trafficking, though she provided limited evidence publicly to support the claim. Wagner also played a leading role in advancing the FOSTA-SESTA package through the House of Representatives.

The Bush-era obscenity task force was formally dissolved by Eric Holder during the administration of Barack Obama. Its responsibilities were folded into the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, commonly known as CEOS, which continues to oversee enforcement of federal record-keeping and obscenity-related laws.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Republican governor has signed legislation requiring adult-oriented businesses to post warning labels that link pornography and adult products to crimes and social harms, despite ongoing debate over the accuracy of those claims.

Gov. Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 2481 into law Tuesday after it moved through the Tennessee legislature with little resistance during the most recent session. The measure was largely championed by Janice Bowling, a Republican lawmaker from Tullahoma.

Under the new law, adult-oriented businesses across the state will have to place warning notices in visible locations near entrances. It’s the kind of requirement that immediately changes the atmosphere of a place before anyone even walks through the door — stark black lettering, official language, no subtlety about it.

The signs must be at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches and printed in 48-point bold block lettering centered on a white background with black text. Businesses that fail to display the notices risk complications obtaining licenses through county adult-oriented business boards, where those boards exist.

Not every county in Tennessee operates one of those regulatory boards. State law defines adult-oriented businesses broadly, including “adult bookstores, adult mini-motion and motion picture theaters, adult cabarets, escort agencies, sexual-encounter centers, massage parlors, rap parlors, saunas, and similar businesses.”

The warning signs themselves are required to include statements such as:

“Attention: By engaging in this type of entertainment, you may be contributing to an increase in domestic assault, rape or sexual assault, and human trafficking.”

Republican state Rep. Monty Fritts carried the bill in the House. With the measure now signed into law, Tennessee further expands what has already become one of the country’s more aggressive regulatory approaches toward adult-oriented businesses and online pornography.

The labeling mandate arrives in addition to Tennessee’s age-verification law, which includes felony-level criminal penalties for violations. The warning-label approach mirrors, in some ways, longstanding requirements tied to tobacco and alcohol sales, while also resembling digital disclosure laws adopted in states such as Texas and Alabama. Sometimes legislation doesn’t just regulate an industry — it sends a message about the culture around it, too.

GENEVA — A group of United Nations experts is calling for stronger action against online pornography platforms, raising concerns about what they described as the large-scale exploitation of women and girls through sites operated by Aylo Holdings, the parent company of Pornhub.

The experts said companies involved in hosting, processing payments for, or directing traffic to such material cannot avoid responsibility when human rights violations occur on their platforms or through their services. “A red line must be drawn,” the experts said. “Systems that facilitate and profit from the sexual exploitation of women and girls cannot merely be regulated at the margins, they must be fundamentally confronted.”

They urged the governments of the United States and Canada to pursue full prosecution of Aylo and require third-party age and consent verification measures for all user-generated pornography websites. According to the experts, the United States did not provide a response. Canada, meanwhile, said it recognizes the need to “modernize the private sector privacy law” and introduce legislation aimed at holding social media providers accountable for harmful content.

The experts also said they believe similar concerns extend beyond Pornhub. “We are concerned that the abuse reflects a broader pattern on platforms such as Xvideos and X.com, which allow user-generated pornography without reliable age or consent verification,” they said. “Exploitation is further enabled through platform monetisation and the continued involvement of payment networks and search engines.”

Another point raised by the experts involved the burden placed on victims attempting to remove non-consensual content from online platforms. They said material often remained accessible despite repeated complaints and removal requests. “This creates a system in which victims are forced to chase their own abuse. They are constantly retraumatised and, even many years after the initial abuse while abusive material continues circulating,” they said.

The experts called for governments to impose binding requirements on Pornhub and other digital platforms that distribute pornography. “There is an urgent need for States to impose binding measures on Pornhub and other digital platforms distributing pornography,” the experts said. They pointed to measures such as mandatory third-party age and consent verification for all individuals depicted in content, along with stricter moderation and removal procedures for abusive or violent material involving children and adults who did not consent.

At the same time, the experts acknowledged changes Aylo has made in recent years, while arguing those steps followed pressure from lawsuits, victims and regulatory scrutiny. They referenced more than 25 lawsuits and action taken by the Federal Trade Commission. “Collectively, these actions led Pornhub to take down the majority of its content library since 2020, amounting to over 50 million unverified images and videos,” the experts said. “Aylo’s response makes clear that the company cannot credibly dispute its longstanding conduct in globally distributing and monetising the traumatic exploitation of victims on Pornhub.”

The experts also criticized the deferred prosecution agreement reached in December 2023 between Aylo and U.S. prosecutors, arguing it stopped short of full criminal accountability. Under the agreement, Aylo agreed to pay financial penalties and compensation to selected victims and accept outside monitoring for three years. If the company complies with the terms, the charges are expected to be dismissed in 2026 without a conviction being entered.

“The contrast is stark: individuals are imprisoned for trafficking, whilst the corporate entity that enabled and knowingly profited from the criminal enterprise on a large scale avoids conviction,” the experts said.

According to the statement, the experts have communicated directly with Aylo Holdings and with officials in the United States and Canada. They also said they have been in contact with payment companies previously connected to Pornhub transactions, including Mastercard and Visa, as well as technology companies involved in directing online traffic, including Google, Meta and Microsoft.

.

LOS ANGELES — Kickstarter has rolled out new “Mature Content” policies that prohibit projects involving adult entertainment and a wide range of sextech products, marking a notable shift for a platform that once helped launch several high-profile sexual wellness brands.

Under the updated rules, Kickstarter states that it “is not a venue for adult-only or sexually explicit content and such content is prohibited.”

The policy specifically bars “any project specifically stating it or the rewards being offered are being created for sexual pleasure,” along with “any project that distributes or enables distribution of pornographic content.” The restrictions also apply to sexual wellness devices that are “explicitly designed for sexual stimulation through insertion or penetration, or are intended to have body parts inserted into them.”

The new guidelines further prohibit sexual wellness products that are “marketed or presented primarily for sexual gratification in a manner that creates heightened safety or moderation concerns,” though the company has not publicly explained what standards it will use to determine those concerns.

Kickstarter’s revised policy still leaves room for some intimate products. Items that are not intended for insertion or penetration may remain eligible, provided they are “not marketed primarily for sexual gratification.” The company lists products such as “lubricants, nipple jewelry, and other intimate items such as bras and underwear” as examples that could still qualify.

A Change in Direction

The updated rules stand in contrast to Kickstarter’s earlier approach, which allowed a number of adult-oriented and sexual wellness campaigns to gain visibility — and significant funding — through the platform.

In the company’s earlier years, pleasure brand Dame launched a crowdfunding campaign for Fin, a finger-worn vibrator. The campaign faced initial resistance before eventually being approved, later reaching full funding within two days.

Spanish sexual wellness company MyHixel also found success on Kickstarter, using the platform for campaigns tied to its ejaculation-control strokers in 2018, 2022 and 2024.

Last year, Ohdoki introduced two new stroker sleeves through Kickstarter and ultimately secured more than $1.5 million in pledges.

In 2025, the insertable audio-enabled pleasure device Groove Thing raised $100,000 during the first 12 hours of its campaign before eventually surpassing half a million dollars in total backing.

The change is especially striking given Kickstarter’s own recent efforts to spotlight adult-adjacent creators. Last year, the company launched “Kickstarter After Dark,” a newsletter promoting projects tied to “adult lifestyle products and innovations,” along with “personal wellness technology” and “mature-oriented design projects.”

The newsletter carried the slogan, “Because NSFW deserves a home on Kickstarter.”

“Adult creators deserve the same spotlight and promotion as any other project on Kickstarter,” the company said at the time.