Age Check Laws Are a ‘Back Door’ to Banning Porn, Project 2025 Architect Says in Hidden Camera Video
Age verification laws have been sweeping the country the year, as states push to require social media platforms and adult-oriented websites to card their users. Rather than check IDs, some major porn platforms have simply been pulling out of states where these laws are enacted.
This “is entirely what we were after,” said Republican operative Russell Vought in a hidden-camera video released last week.
The video was recorded by reporters from the British nonprofit Centre for Climate Reporting. Posing as the relatives of a fictitious conservative donor, the reporters talked with Vought in a D.C. hotel suite in July and, last Thursday, posted a recording of this conversation.
‘We’re doing it from the back door’
In a portion of the video, Vought—who served as policy director for the Republican National Committee (RNC) platform rewrite this year—talks about why activists have been pushing age verification laws.
“We’re doing it from he back door. We’re starting with the kids,” Vaught said. “We’d have a national ban on pornography if we could, right? So, like, we would have, you know, the porn companies being investigated for all manner of human rights abuses.”
A national ban on porn would, of course, run up against the First Amendment. So savvy anti-porn activists have taken to pushing age verification laws instead.
“We came up with an idea on pornography to make it so that the porn companies bear the liability for the underage use, as opposed to the person who visits the website [having to] certify that ‘I am 18,” Vought told the undercover Centre for Climate Reporting staffers. “We’ve got a number of states that are passing this and then you know what happens is the porn company says ‘We’re not going to do business in your state’—which, of course, is entirely what we were after.”
Who Is Russell Vought?
Vought is the founder of the Center for Renewing America, a right-wing think tank whose “mission is to renew a consensus of America as a nation under God,” per its website. In May, he was appointed policy director of the RNC’s platform committee.
Vought was previously an official in the Trump administration’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), eventually serving as OMB director from July 2020 to January 2021.
But Vought is probably best known as one of the architects of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s now-infamous document laying out what it wants to put on the agenda of a second Trump administration.
Trump and his campaign have distanced itself from the much-derided Project 2025 agenda, which Democrats have latched onto as a way to portray Trump’s campaign as nefarious and extreme. But part of the idea behind the agenda is to put Project 2025 supporters back in the federal government if Trump is elected again. So even if Trump isn’t doesn’t endorse Project 2025, people from
Article from Latest
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.