ECP Exec Takes Stance in Favor of Porn Filtering by Default

MONTREAL—Solomon Friedman, partner and vice president for compliance at Aylo ownership group Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), on Tuesday voiced support for parental controls that filter out porn content being enabled by default at the point of sale on mobile phones, tablets and computers.  Friedman indicated his position during a virtual media day put on to mark ECP's one-year anniversary of acquiring Aylo (parent company of Pornhub and its affiliated properties) that was intended to pull back the curtain on the company's overhauled trust and safety program. When attending journalists asked about the institutional position of ECP/Aylo on Canadian age verification Bill S-210—the company is based in Montreal—and age verification requirements in general that have followed the model of those imposed last year in Louisiana, Friedman said that ECP favors automatically enabled filters on devices that must be deactivated in order to access age-restricted websites. This has been a hot-button topic in the battle over age verification legislation across the U.S.; in Utah, for one, the just-passed Senate Bill 104, which is currently awaiting signature by Gov. Spencer Cox, mandates that such filters be enabled on mobile devices by manufacturers—a requirement expected to be challenged as unconstitutional. Friedman's comments on the topic follow: “This is going to suprise some people ... coming from the ownership group that owns Aylo, which operates Pornhub, we want every single device sold by the ... [major device manufacturers] ... we want those devices, those user accounts, to be blocked from accessing adult [content] by default until the age of the user is verified on the device. "... That is, the device is the key, and we will be the lock. In our view, it is necessary not just when it comes to adult entertainment or pornography, but it is required in order to keep the entirety of the adult internet off limits from young people. [I'm] talking about alcohol and cannabis and gambling and explicit video games, etc.—all the reasons why we need device-based age verification. "... We are willing to work with any government in testing this technology and with any mainstream tech company, including the device manufacturers, to get this right. We are committed to getting this right. We want to live in a world where every device is ‘opt-out’ when it comes to parental controls, not ‘opt-in.’” Fellow ECP partner and vice president for public engagement, Sarah Bain, offered the following comments to AVN, building upon the position advanced by Friedman: "The challenge of age verification requires a global solution to ensure that minors do not access age-inappropriate material online, wherever it appears, while respecting user privacy, ensuring equitable compliance, and avoiding unintended consequences. Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must ensure minors do not access content intended for adults and preserve user safety and privacy." It is true that Aylo has consistently maintained support of some variation of device-based verification as a preferred solution. Aylo has been active in criticizing age verification measures that require sensitive personal identifying information and government identification cards to access pornography in specific jurisdictions, especially Utah and Texas. Aylo teamed up with the parent companies of XVideos and Xnxx and the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) to sue the state of Texas in an effort to block the age verification law enacted there requiring health labeling. However, a position in support of device manufacturers enabling porn filters by default could be deemed problematic by many in the adult community. AVN asked the Free Speech Coalition's executive director, Alison Boden, for its stance on the topic.  "FSC supports device-level filters in general as a more effective and privacy-protective solution than the government-mandated age verification laws," Boden said. "We’re currently evaluating specific technologies and their implications for potential policy approaches." Asked to clarify whether the FSC has a position specifically on instituting a standard of device manufacturers enabling parental filters at the point of sale, Boden replied: "We're still evaluating that." Previously, FSC has come out against porn filtering schemes proposed and implemented by governments. In a 2018 column for The Verge by journalist Lux Alptraum about the United Kingdom's first failed attempt at mandatory content filtering through the Digital Economy Act, FSC Director of Public Affairs Mike Stabile was quoted as saying: "The issue with filters starts with the fact that their purpose is to block content. ... [For] a filter to be effective, it’s generally better, business-wise, to filter more content than less."  At the time, the Tory U.K. government targeted internet service providers with filtering requirements that required an "opt-out," not an "opt-in."