Top adult star reveals 'really tough' impact new UK porn laws will have on industry

A popular adult content creator has revealed the impact the UK’s new laws on porn has had on her and the industry as a whole.

For those who don’t know, the news broke last month stating that stricter laws would be introduced when it came to age verification on adult websites.

As a result, Pornhub pulled out of a European country to protest against similar new laws, and the full effect has yet to be seen across the whole industry.

Usually, users could verify that they were 18 or older by simply clicking a box, and honestly, you didn’t have to tell the truth as there was no verification method.

Adult sites have not been pleased by this change, leading to Pornhub pulling out of France after the country stated its plans to crack down on NSFW content this summer by rolling out age verification requirements for sites.

Jess West aired her concerns over the new law (Instagram/@official.jesswest)

The UK is introducing similar ‘robust’ age checks this month, and it will mean that anyone who can’t prove they are 18, simply can’t watch porn.

The Daily Star reported that regulators had set a deadline of 25 July for all content sites and platforms to implement what they call ‘highly effective age assurance technology’ to safeguard children from seeing NSFW content.

Adult star Jess West, a popular adult content creator who has been in the industry for 15 years revealed that, while it’s a great incentive, there’s something that it’s going to inadvertently be impacted upon.

She said to the outlet: “I am all for the fact that obviously children and minors shouldn't be seeing our porn.”

However, Jess warned that the move has led to an issue with getting exposure.

She said: “But it's also got a knock on effect, because a lot of the companies are shadow banning us even more so even though the age verification is in place.

She said it'll further impact her exposure (Instagram/@official.jesswest)

“It's just difficult because we seem to get shadow banned and pushed aside a lot.”

She explained that many companies are not pushing their content, so adult stars can’t advertise their services.

She said: “Like Instagram are cracking down on us, TikTok crack down on us and even the adult versions of all this stuff like even Twitter/X now shadow bans us so it's just really difficult because we are getting shadow banned everywhere.

“It's really tough for us to advertise ourselves because how do we go about it when we're not allowed to?”

The shadow ban means that restrictions have been placed upon a user’s account, making their content less visible to others.

Jess shared that Instagram was one of the worst offenders for her, and while she reached out the response was less than helpful.

She added: “We're not allowed to show ourselves, you know, even in lingerie and stuff now it's getting harder and harder.

“Loads of people lost their Instagrams . . . It's just difficult for us to advertise ourselves really but like I said I am all for (the new rules) but then at the same time how do we even advertise ourselves so that like people can see us if everything is behind paywalls – you know like how people are ever going to see us.

“It's just a tough one.”