Pornhub bans now cover more than a third of US states

More than a third of US states already have restrictions on adult content online, blocking access to popular pornography websites such as Pornhub.

As of January 1, 2025, 17 states have implemented restrictions after Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee became the latest states to implement 18-year-old verification laws for viewing porn sites.

Laws aimed at prohibiting viewing of content by adults under the age of 18 in these states — which have a combined population of more than 120 million — typically require visitors to provide government-approved identification, such as a passport or driver’s license.

Critics claim it violates users’ privacy, with PornHub, RedTube and Uporn’s parent company Aylo claiming it also puts people’s personal information at risk. The company said it has removed its websites from those states as a result of the laws.

A spokesperson said: “Ayelo has publicly supported user age verification for years, but we believe that any legislation in this area must protect user safety and privacy and must effectively prevent children from accessing content. which is intended to protect adults.

Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions around the world, including Florida, have chosen to implement age verification is inefficient, haphazard, and dangerous. Any regulation that would require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information would jeopardize user safety.

Independent Pornhub has been contacted for comment on the latest state restrictions.

Age verification checks have made virtual private networks (VPNs) more popular as people try to bypass their state’s porn blocks through technology that hides their real location.

According to data from review site SlashGear, searches for “Texas VPN” spiked 1,750 percent in the days following the Texas porn ban in March of last year.

More restrictions may be imposed under Donald Trump’s administration, with the criminalization of pornography among the controversial Project 2025 plans drawn up by the Heritage Foundation.

The conservative think tank claims pornography has no First Amendment protections for free speech, calling it “as addictive as any illegal drug and as psychologically destructive as any crime” in a 920-page statement.

“Pornography should be outlawed. People who produce and distribute it should be jailed.” Project 2025 states.

Educators and public librarians who provide it must be classified as registered sex offenders. And the telecommunications and technology companies that facilitate its spread must be shut down.”