Adult World News

A Thai government committee drafting a new law governing prostitution has agreed that voluntary sexual service without any criminal penalties should be allowed from sex workers of 20 years of age or greater.

Jintana Chanbamroong, head of the Department of Women's Affairs and Family Development at Social Development and Human Security Ministry, said after presiding over a meeting of the committee drafting the new law that public hearings both online and on-site were held in five cities including Bangkok, Chonburi and Hat Yai.

It is initially called the Draft Act for the Protection of Sexual Services B.E. 206 and is planned to replace the current Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act from 1996.

Sex workers will have rights and be entitled to welfare in the labour system without being identified as a sex worker. They will also have the right to fair compensation but must undergo health checks to ensure they are not infected with any contagious diseases. However prostitution that falls in the category of human trafficking, such as procurement or coercion, would still be a violation of the Human Trafficking Act.

Brothel operators will be required to not violate the conditions for protecting service providers who are their employees and only operate in specific zones, particularly not near educational institutions or places of worship. Also will be stipulated is that it is prohibited to engage in sexual relations with prostitutes under 20 years of age with those procuring and luring them into prostitution too being liable for criminal penalties.

This draft law is expected to be completed and will be tabled to the new government around August this year.

 

Update: Bill being drafted

16th March 2023. See article from thethaiger.com

The Thai government is now drafting a bill to legalise sex work to protect sex workers from exploitation. The Ministry of Social Development and Human Security (MSDHS) has proposed the bill, which will also limit the minimum age to provide or buy the service

According to Narong Jaihan, a lecturer from the Faculty of Law at Thammasat University, sex workers under 20 will not be penalised, but legal action will be taken against business operators who employ them underage, as well as their parents.

A Canadian private equity firm has acquired MindGeek, the company behind Pornhub, YouPorn, and other major porn sites. The Financial Times reported that newly formed Ethical Capital Partners have acquired MindGeek for an undisclosed amount and that it will continue to operate under an unidentified group of current executives alongside an ECP management team that includes lawyers and former cannabis investors.

MindGeek owns some of the highest-trafficked sites on the internet. Long-standing moderation problems reached a tipping point in 2020 when Visa and Mastercard both cut off service to Pornhub, prompting it to remove most of its videos and build out a mandatory age verification system for uploaders and producers.

While MindGeek got payment services restored to Pornhub, the payment processors have continued to deny access to its ad network TrafficJunky. Legal challenges against the site remain ongoing, and it could face further pressure as US lawmakers push to weaken liability protections for websites under Section 230. MindGeek's CEO and COO, Feras Antoon and David Tassillo, both stepped down in mid-2022.

Playboy has announced plans to relaunch its famed magazine as a digital-first publication that will serve as the entryway to its burgeoning creator platform.

The Playboy Centerfold platform launched in December 2021. The company also said that the Centerfold name will be retired with the magazine relaunch, and the creator portal will be integrated into its new digital iteration.

Playboy chief brand officer Rachel Webber said:

We're putting the power of content creation in the hands of the creative community and giving them the tools to interact with and monetize their fanbases directly.

The company said it will feature the Playboy platform's most successful and up-and-coming creators in editorial features, cover shoots, Playboy fashion spreads and more. A company spokesperson added that:

The platform differs from other creator sites in that while we allow nudity, we do not allow explicit content/pornography.

The print edition of Playboy ceased publication in March 2020 citing the general decline in sales for print as well as the then-emerging COVID-19 virus' impact on production and supply chains.

Money Shot: The Pornhub Story is a 2023 US adult documentary by Suzanne Hillinger
Starring Asa Akira, Siri Dahl and Cherie DeVille

Follow the rise of the most famous adult entertainment platform and the recent backlash it has received.

The Daily Beast doesn't sound very impressed:

Viewers hoping for salaciousness or titillation will be sorely disappointed by Suzanne Hillinger's feature (March 15), which eschews nudity (much less hardcore material) to an almost disingenuous degree in favor of a skin-deep and saggy look at the 21st-century porn wars.

 

The Arkansas House has approved an amendment to SB 66, a Republican bill that would require age verification before entering a website offering pornography, over confusing language. SB 66 was introduced in January by state Senator Tyler Dees, who later admitted that his state initiative is only a steppingstone toward the ultimate goal of a federal mandate.

A vote in the Arkansas House sent the amended bill back to the Committee on House Rules for further consideration, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported. Representative Mindy McAlindon told the paper that the amendment was needed to clarify distinctions between 'corporate entities' and 'third party vendors' in the bill.

SB 66 is a copycat version of Louisiana's Act 440, a new law enacted in January after being championed by a religious anti-porn activist Republican legislator.

Meanwhile Virginia lawmakers recently passed a bill with near-unanimous support that would require pornography websites to more stringently verify whether a person is 18 before allowing them access to the site. Websites would have to implement more advanced methods of their choosing to verify age, such as requiring users to submit copies of government-issued identification, biometric scans or use other forms of commercial age verification software.

Under the bill, a civil cause of action, or a lawsuit, could be brought on behalf of a minor who suffered damages from access to pornographic websites that didn't use age verification measures. No one spoke in opposition when the bill was debated during the session, but some people took to social media to express their concerns.

The bill now heads to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's desk for his signature.

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Featuring interviews with performers, activists and past employees, this documentary offers a deep dive into the successes and scandals of Pornhub.

Money Shot premieres on Netflix on March 15th 2023.