To kick off 2024, Pornhub has blocked its website in North Carolina and Montana in protest of the bills from the two states regulating online pornography access.
As reported by 404Media, Pornhub has restricted access to its website and other Aylo-operated pornographic content services, which include Brazzers and Redtube, because the states introduced legislation prohibiting users from enjoying porn online without ID verification proving they're 18 or older. Pornhub isn't against the idea of age-gating adult content, but the company wants device identifiers for age verification instead of the methods imposed by the legislation in these states.
Per the Associated Press, North Carolina snuck the ID verification to view porn law into its bill on high school computer curriculum, while Montana passed a standalone ID verification law in May, 2023. If people in these states want to view pornographic material online, they will need to present "digitized identification" to verify their age or use a third-party verification tool.
If users in these states attempt to access Pornhub, they will be greeted with a video with adult video star Cherie DeVille explaining why they can't use it. In addition, there's a message from the company explaining how the legislation could potentially cause more harm than good.
"While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit and adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk," the statement reads. "In addition, mandating age verification without proper enforcement gives platforms the opportunity to choose whether or not to comply. As we've seen in other states, this just drives traffic to sites with far fewer safety measures in place. Very few sites are able to compare to the robust Trust and Safety measures we currently have in place. To protect children and user privacy, any legislation must be enforced against all platforms offering adult content."
Montana and North Carolina join a growing list of states with restricted access to Pornhub. Louisiana, Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Utah already passed legislation similar to that in the other two states.
