Tech
Age-verification is hurting sex educators and sex workers, studies suggest
Experts have warned about how age verification laws will impact people's work and bank accounts — and now preliminary research suggests that they're right.
Age verification laws vary by state and country, but usually require submitting proof of age, be it a facial scan or uploading a government ID, to view potentially adult content. Since 2022, these laws have been enacted in different U.S. states. Other countries, such as the UK, have also instituted age verification via the Online Safety Act.
Sexual freedom nonprofit, the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, found that around one in five sex educators (18 percent) say these laws have already impacted their work. For sex educators working in states with age verification mandates, one in three (33 percent) report this.
Approximately 60 respondents completed the survey last month, so this isn't a wide sample, but it hints at the trickle-down effects of age verification.
"Age-verification laws are already impacting sex education in the U.S.," says Woodhull president and CEO, Ricci Joy Levy, in a press release.
The majority of sex educators surveyed, 73 percent, are concerned that these laws will impact their work, while 76 percent fear they could be used to restrict access to sex education and related resources. As it is, only 37 percent of U.S. states require school sex education to be medically accurate, according to Boston University.
"Again and again, we were told this was only about keeping minors from accessing porn," Levy's statement continues. "Woodhull warned these vague and overly broad policies would also result in censorship of vital, non-explicit information about sex and gender, and the data bear this out. The current age-verification protocols are ripe for abuse, and educators are right to be scared."
Separate research from adult industry research firm SWR Data hints at a similar story when it comes to adult creators. Nearly half (45.2 percent) of the 500 surveyed last fall reported that their income from adult work decreased in the past year, with two-thirds (63 percent) saying it got harder to earn money in the past year as well.
There are several possible reasons for this trend, including overall socioeconomic uncertainty, but a staggering 98 percent of creators who reported lower income said they've experienced difficulties related to the "War on Porn."
The so-called War on Porn can refer to age verification as well as other attempts to remove adult content from the internet. Project 2025, the blueprint for President Trump's second term, calls for an outright ban on pornography and imprisoning its creators. In 2024, one of the co-writers of Project 2025, Russell Vought (now the director of the Office of Management and Budget), reportedly called age verification the "back door" to a porn ban.
The majority of surveyed adult creators who lost income also reported increased social media censorship and increased restrictions on what they can sell, and even fans are having trouble accessing their content.
The latter point — trouble with access — especially affected adult creators in U.S. and UK markets, according to SWR Data. They're also dealing with piracy, showing that viewers are finding ways to work around age verification.
Two separate studies last year suggested that age verification laws don't work to keep children off of porn sites. Reasons include VPN usage and going to non-compliant websites. But it appears that age-verification is working to hurt sex workers and sex educators.
London's cybercrime unit is investigating a former Meta employee who allegedly downloaded more than 30,000 private user images from personal Facebook pages.
Police say the employee, a company engineer, allegedly designed a script that allowed his activity to go undetected by internal security systems, according to court documents reviewed by The Guardian.
The incident was discovered by the company over a year ago, Meta explained in a statement to the BBC. In addition to terminating the employee, Meta notified affected Facebook users and updated its security protocols. Meta then referred the case to the UK police, and authorities arrested the man in November.
"After discovering improper access by an employee over a year ago, we immediately terminated the individual, notified users, referred the matter to law enforcement and enhanced our security measures," the company said to the press. "We are co-operating with the ongoing investigation."
Meta has previously been accused of failing to appropriately notify users of privacy policies and how their data is accessed by the company, including recent concerns about Meta AI chatbot prompts being made visible to the public.
Last month, an investigation found that offshore Meta workers in Kenya were being forced to review personal recordings taken by Meta Ray-Ban glasses wearers — videos that were being shared unbeknownst to users to train the company's AI. In January, a group of international plaintiffs and whistleblowers filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that private WhatsApp conversations, which are end-to-end encrypted, were being accessed and analyzed by Meta employees. The company has denied the allegation.
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Tech
Best Buy is giving away a Super Mario Bros. 40th anniversary collectible game case for free — how to claim
GET A FREE COLLECTIBLE GAME CASE: As of April 8, you can pick up a slick Super Mario Bros. 40th anniversary collectible game case for free at Best Buy when you purchase two select Mario titles for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
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There's a lot of Mario talk lately between The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch 2 Edition release, and the 40th anniversary of the nostalgic Nintendo mascot. And Best Buy wants in on the conversation. For a limited time, the retailer is giving away free Super Mario Bros. 40th anniversary collectible game cases. Here's how you can claim yours.
There's limited quantities of these slick collectible cases, so you'll want to act semi-quickly if you want to ensure you get one. All you have to do to qualify is purchase two select Mario titles for Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 at Best Buy. Once you add two to your cart, you'll see the game case added automatically for $0 (a $20 value). It can hold 24 games and showcases photos of Mario himself over the years.
There's plenty of excellent games included in the list, including Super Mario Bros. Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park, Mario Kart World for Nintendo Switch 2, Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 for Nintendo Switch, and Mario Party Superstars for Nintendo Switch. Most of them are at full price, which is kind of a bummer, but we do think the majority of them are worth the money.
Regardless, this is your chance to celebrate four decades of Mario and get some sick merch to go along with it. And a free gift is a free gift!
TL;DR: Live stream Sporting CP vs. Arsenal in the Champions League for free on Prime Video. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.
The Champions League is reaching its dramatic conclusion, with only four teams left in contention for the top prize.
Sporting CP vs. Arsenal is one of the four quarter-final matchups. Arsenal will be expected to progress into the next round, but they've shown some inconsistent form of late. They'll need to improve after losing to Southampton in the FA Cup at the weekend.
Sporting needed a stunning turnaround to progress past Bodø/Glimt in the last round. They'll need to produce another strong display in the first leg of this round if they want to move into the semi finals. It's going to be an interesting clash between two attacking sides, and you can follow all the action without spending anything.
If you want to watch Sporting CP vs. Arsenal in the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.
When is Sporting CP vs. Arsenal?
Sporting CP vs. Arsenal in the Champions League kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on April 7. This fixture takes place at the Estádio José Alvalade.
How to watch Sporting CP vs. Arsenal for free
Sporting CP vs. Arsenal is available to live stream for free on Prime Video (30-day free trial).
This free stream is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in another location, meaning you can unblock Prime Video to stream the Champions League for free from anywhere in the world.
Live stream Sporting CP vs. Arsenal for free by following these simple steps:
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Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)
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Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)
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Open up the app and connect to a server in the UK
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Visit Prime Video
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Watch Sporting CP vs. Arsenal for free from anywhere in the world
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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but most do offer free-trials or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Sporting CP vs. Arsenal without committing with your cash. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does give you enough time to stream select Champions League fixtures before recovering your investment.
What is the best VPN for Prime Video?
ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on Prime Video, for a number of reasons:
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Servers in 105 countries including the UK
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Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more
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Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure
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Fast connection speeds free from throttling
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Up to 10 simultaneous connections
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30-day money-back guarantee
A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99 (with money-back guarantee).
Watch Sporting CP vs. Arsenal in the Champions League for free with ExpressVPN.
Is your phone gross? Watch this.
Former Meta employee accused of downloading 30,000 private user images
Best Buy is giving away a Super Mario Bros. 40th anniversary collectible game case for free — how to claim
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