Pornhub is now blocked in these 17 US states
Pornhub is now inaccessible for users in 17 US states. (Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Pornhub, the world’s largest adult-video content site, is now banned in 17 US states.
Last year, Louisiana became the first state to require government ID to allow anyone to access Pornhub, after passing Act 440, under which commercial entities that publish “material harmful to minors” could be fined tens of thousands of dollars.
Since then, the law has been copied in a number of states, with the majority completely banning some of the most popular porn sites rather than requiring identification for access.
Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina joined the list on Wednesday (1 January). The others are:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Idaho
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
Georgia and Louisiana have passed restrictions on adult-site content, but have not banned them outright. The former’s age-verification bill is set to go into effect in July.
A spokesperson for Aylo, which owns Pornhub and several other porn sites, told 404 Media that, while they support age verification features on adult-content sites, several states have taken legislation too far.
“The way many jurisdictions worldwide, including Florida, have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard and dangerous. Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy.”
The legislation is unlikely to be properly enforced, causing users to simply access “non-compliant sites or find other methods of evading these laws”, the spokesperson added.
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