Jacob Ogles
Pornhub is standing by plans to block anyone in Florida from accessing its website in January.
The same day, the world’s most visited pornography website will also shut down access in Tennessee and South Carolina. In all cases, the publisher will take the action in protest of age verification requirements being imposed starting with the new year.
“To be clear, in blocking access within these states, we are fully compliant with the law,” a spokesperson for Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, wrote in an email.
Gov. Ron DeSantis in March signed new legislation (HB 3) requiring web publishers posting pornography and other content “harmful to minors” to utilize third-party age verification before users can access materials.
Aylo maintains that the new law in Florida places an unfair burden on publishers. The company spokesperson stressed that the company supports age verification requirements. But the company and other publishers have long argued such age checks should be done at the device level, such as through cellphone app stores, without the same security and privacy concerns from asking users to upload identification materials on the internet.
“Some people have erroneously interpreted us blocking access in Florida to mean that we are doing so because we don’t want to implement age verification. That is inaccurate,” the spokesperson wrote. “The problem is simply that the law is designed in a dangerous and haphazard way that puts in jeopardy user privacy and also the safety of both adults and children.”
Rep. Chase Tramont, a Port Orange Republican who sponsored the legislation, said that isn’t true, and that it makes sense for those publishing the content in question to monitor who accesses it.
“It’s simple: age verification at the site specifically verifies the user itself regardless of which device is being used,” Tramont said. “Call this for what it is. This is about passing the buck and the responsibility to anyone but themselves. Age verification methods are implemented everyday with a person’s privacy still protected. “
The law passed in the Florida House on a 109-4 vote. Notably, most dissenting votes voiced opposition to more controversial age verification requirements with social media platforms, and a bill focused only on pornography initially passed in the House on a 119-0 vote.
A number of states in recent years have already placed verification requirements on publishers. In fact, Aylo already blocks access to Pornhub in 14 other states with varying laws: Virginia, Montana, North Carolina, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi, Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama and Oklahoma. The addition of three states in January will mean internet users in 17 states cannot access the site, with Florida the most populous on the list.
Yet, Pornhub as of October remained the seventh-most visited website worldwide, according to Semrush.
Tramont suggested Aylo likely cares more about its traffic than it does about privacy concerns.
“It’s not a situation where they CAN’T comply, they simply don’t WANT to comply,” Tramont said.
“They know that once they prevent children from accessing their site, the fewer hits their site will receive, and therefore less revenue generated through advertising. If they truly believed in age verification and protecting children from accessing their sites, they would be doing it. Fascinating how they waited until after the law was passed for them to want to join the conversation and present their solutions.”
The policy fight and access bans take place amid increasing concerns over “porn literacy,” with many academics calling for parents to have conversations with children about content — and about the differences between what they see on screen and the sexual activity of most adults.
A survey by Common Sense Media found some 73% of American children under age 18 had consumed pornography at some time. A paper published this year by the Journal of Family Medicine and Community Health and recently cited in The New York Times suggested primary care physicians need to discuss with adolescents how much pornography they consume.
Aylo maintains imposing restrictions like Florida’s will do little to deter the consumption of porn and may just drive youths to find it in less savory corners of the internet.
Of note, Pornhub has continued to allow users in Louisiana to access its content, even though other publishers shut down use in protest of a new law there. Yet, Pornhub saw an 80% decline in traffic when it started requiring age verification as required by that state’s laws. Users responded by migrating to dark web sources that did not comply with the law.
“We are eager to be part of this solution and are happy to collaborate with government, civil society and tech partners to arrive at an effective device-based age verification solution,” a statement from Aylo reads.
24 comments
Cindy
December 27, 2024 at 4:25 pm
They will do everyone the favor to much naked and watch me do what the birds and bees do.
Look at the close up of my releases 😜
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Dick
January 1, 2025 at 1:19 am
Hhbb
Cindy
December 27, 2024 at 5:03 pm
Butt bacteria pimples and warts feels so good
A new scene pooping and licking
john buttkiss
December 30, 2024 at 11:40 pm
get help
Paul Passarelli
December 27, 2024 at 9:04 pm
So 119 representatives gave themselves an ill-deserves pat on the back, a little dose of Dr. Feelgood, which will accomplish exactly *NOTHING*!
The article states: “Tramont suggested Aylo likely cares more about its traffic than it does about privacy concerns.”
Clearly false because the company is literally cutting off the ‘clicks’ from the entire state. That’s a significant hit to its revenue. Clearly this windmill tipping campaign is being led by a politician that is wronger than wrong, but won’t ever admit it.
JD
December 28, 2024 at 7:38 am
Add age and Id verification on all sites – F@cking Twitter and Florida Politics included. ID.me would boom. Let the Doxying beging.
Summer
January 1, 2025 at 3:31 pm
Exactly!! Require age/identity verification for TIK TOK and facebook and all them!!
Takia Rhymes
December 29, 2024 at 9:18 am
That’s good I thought they check age verification any ways. 18 years and older what is wrong with that. I think it’s a great idea for age verification. I thought they already checked age before entering the hub.
An Expert
January 1, 2025 at 8:50 am
I get it. Their web traffic would drop significantly but not because of “all the children” who wouldn’t be able to access it as this politician would make you believe. No, it would be because an overwhelming majority of users would not want to go through the age verification process giving their ID or what not and would just go elsewhere for their content. That’s why they offer up having it be a device specific thing. Then everyone can be satisfied. The phone verifies your age. The phone then lets you access the site without having to give personal identifying information.
Devan
December 30, 2024 at 8:32 pm
this state is gonna burn with all the god fearing people in it
Devan
December 30, 2024 at 8:34 pm
viewing porn is not something i wanna watch with big brother. ID checks….
Angry Christian
December 31, 2024 at 11:58 am
God is the ultimate Big Brother…
you won’t be held guiltless – Jesus came to offer freedom and salvation from sin. Choose Him rather than loving pornography, it is what is required to skip the lake of fire at the judgment and go to heaven.
SGT
December 31, 2024 at 5:58 pm
Spare us your fantasy bullsh*t. There is no god.
Carl
January 1, 2025 at 3:33 pm
Get on your knees where you belong and lock the boots of your DeSantis. You only came here to die anyway
Angry Christian
December 31, 2024 at 11:56 am
Florida is doing the right thing. They’ve been a porn capital for a long time now. Time to dry them out.
Desantis is doing a great job.
abc
December 31, 2024 at 3:54 pm
kill thyself boot licker
SGT
December 31, 2024 at 5:56 pm
DeSantis is a fascist and a tyrant. He’s done a terrible job. He’s done nothing about the skyrocketing cost of homeowners insurance. He did however cut deals with insurance companies that benefit them. All of Florida is worse off for his policies. But Florida voters are the stupidest in the country so they’ll probably replace him with someone even worse. Just like when they replaced criminal Scott with DeSantis.
Jesus
January 1, 2025 at 3:33 pm
You support pedophiles and probably are a pedophile yourself. Amen, right?
Derp
January 1, 2025 at 8:59 pm
Lol you realize everyone under the age for 60 knows how to use a VPN right?
SGT
December 31, 2024 at 5:51 pm
Anyone who knows how a VPN works knows this blocking of the state (any state) is pretty much pointless. So just get yourself a VPN and you’re good to go. ProtonVPN has a free version that works great and is super easy to use. Anyone can do it. There’s basically no setup required. Just downloaded it, install it and connect.
John
January 1, 2025 at 8:59 pm
I mean they already pushed this in Kentucky, and my $3 a month VPN just ignores it regardless. Useless laws pushed by useless people.
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January 2, 2025 at 10:23 am
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Comments are closed.