PornHub blocks Utah for law protecting kids from porn
No, really
Internet giant PornHub has blocked users in the state of Utah to protest a bill that requires ID verification to access explicit content on the internet.
Instead, they are met with a video from adult performer Cherie DeVill who explains that while “the safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns,” the pornography website believes that “the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification.” said. “Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in your region.”
SB 287, which was spearheaded by Republican Gov. Spencer Cox, went into effect this week rendering PornHub’s content and all other pornography inaccessible by users who do not verify they are over the age of 18.
"The very least we can do as a society is to ask companies to verify the age of those viewing the pornography they produce and distribute," Cox said in a statement to CBS affiliate 2KUTV. "This unanimous, bipartisan legislation provides multiple ways to satisfy that requirement."
Utah declared pornography to be a public health crisis in 2016, later passing legislation requiring adult websites to warn users of the harmful effects of pornography.
According to 2KUTV, this new law “places the onus squarely on adult-oriented digital companies to verify those permissions.”
The Christian Post notes that the state saw a surge in searches for virtual private networks (VPNs) which are typical
lly used to bypass regional internet restrictions.
Link: PornHub Blocks Utah Users to Protest Bill Requiring Age Verification
An Ohio man was recently cleared of wrongdoing after he was charged earlier this year for exposing his genitals in a women’s locker room at a YMCA where, in some cases, teenage girls were present.
While the judge in the case acknowledged that 31-year-old Darren Glines was indeed in the locker room, he determined that the 350-lb man not only had a right to be there, but that his large midsection concealed his private parts.
In February, Glines was charged with three counts of public indecency following incidents that occurred the previous fall at the YMCA of Greater Dayton in Greene County, The Blaze reports.
Judge David McNamee found in late April that while "There is no question that [Glines] was in the women’s locker room,” he was “not charged with trespass, nor was [Glines] charged with being in an area of the YMCA where [Glines] was not supposed to be.”
Affirming a line of reasoning provided by Glines’ attorneys, the judge also noted that "Glines' genitalia was not visible as a result of other portions of her body covering same."
The director of the facility indeed did refuse to bar him from women’s-only spaces, as he identified as a woman, despite the fact that he had reportedly exposed his fully intact genitalia in the same space as 13- and 16-year-old girls.
"Under no circumstance will we investigate an individual’s birth identity and then assign individuals to locker rooms. That would be counter to the law, counter to respect for all people and it is not who or what we are as an organization," the YMCA told local media at the time.
"Greater Dayton YMCA adheres to Ohio and Federal laws and antidiscrimination laws which allow all members access to its facilities and programs, regardless of religion, national origin, race, color, sex, age, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation,” it added.
Link: Man Cleared After Exposing Himself to Teenage Girls Due in Part to His Large Gut
Evangelists on the ground outside a massive gathering of Satanists, protesters, and onlookers say around 120 people gave their lives to Christ against the backdrop of the SatanCon event.
The event was organized by The Satanic Temple to mark the 10th anniversary of its founding and styled as a "Hexennacht,” or "Witches' Night” to mark the pagan holiday May Eve.
Kris Kubal of Intercessors for America told Fox News that her group and others walked through the crowd to pray and discuss faith with attendants.
She distinguished this group of evangelists from others who had showed up to wave signs and protest SatanCon.
"Our approach was very different from what you may have seen on the news," she explained. "Our approach was to speak in love, and we were more interested in people being set free, not praying against them; having conversations, not shouting."
While there were some contentious interactions, Kubal explained, there "were a lot of good conversations that happened.”
Of the dozens of people who accepted Christ, not all were Satanists, but of those that were, many had been raised in professing Christian homes and "maybe had a hurt from the church and now had navigated away from the church."
Meanwhile, Sean Feucht of Let Us Worship also mobilized Christians to minister around the event, reporting that they had "led at least 98 people to Jesus, but prayed with hundreds more."
"According to local guys on the ground who I'm friends with, they said they think it was the largest organized evangelistic effort in recent Boston history," he also said.
Hallelujah! When Satanists go big, the people of God go even bigger. Praise His holy name!