Pornhub will cease operations in five more states this summer due to new legislation requiring age verification on adult entertainment sites. The move follows a wave of recently passed laws that require porn websites and other platforms offering explicit adult content to collect proof of their users’ ages. In all of these states, this means people will need to upload a copy of their driver’s license or other government ID, or register with a third-party age verification service, in order to use sites like Pornhub.
of Pornhub said its latest closing locations are , , , And . The site announced that it would end its operations in these states in July 2024. The website has shut down. and also blocked access to its site in Arkansas, Mississippi, , and Virginia in response to similar state legislation.
Lawmakers in those states who supported age verification laws said the rules would prevent children from viewing explicit content. For example, Kentucky’s bill framed pornography as a “public health crisis” with a “corroding influence” on children.
Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, countered that the approach taken by these laws endangers users’ privacy and cannot actually prevent minors from viewing explicit content. After and Aylo remained operational with a government-backed age verification service, Pornhub traffic in the state fell by 80 percent.
“These people haven’t stopped looking for porn,” Aylo told . “They have simply migrated to darker corners of the internet that don’t ask users to verify their age, don’t follow the law, don’t take user safety seriously, and often don’t even moderate the contents.” The company a device-based age verification solution rather than state legislation to keep minors away from adult sites.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has also raised privacy concerns about these bills, emphasizing that no age verification method is completely foolproof. “No one should have to surrender their driving license just to access free websites. That’s why the EFF opposes mandatory age verification laws, no matter how well-intentioned they may be.” declared the organization in .
