Floridians could soon be blocked from accessing Pornhub, one of the world’s most popular adult entertainment platforms, as its parent company, Aylo, opts to restrict access rather than comply with a new Florida law.
Effective January 1, 2025, the law, known as HB 3, mandates age verification for accessing adult content online. Passed in March 2024 by the Florida Legislature and signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, it requires websites with explicit material to implement “anonymous age verification” along with standard methods.
The law aims to protect minors from exposure to adult content and from potential online predators. During a news conference in Jacksonville, Governor DeSantis stated, “You could be doing everything right, but they [predators] know how to manipulate these platforms.”
Concerns Over “Anonymous” Verification
While the law specifies that third-party verification providers cannot retain personal data and must safeguard it from unauthorized access, the term “anonymous age verification” remains undefined in the legislation.
Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, announced its decision via an email to Florida Politics, citing safety and privacy concerns regarding the law’s implementation.
“Requiring hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect large amounts of sensitive personal information endangers user safety,” the company stated. Aylo emphasized that users would likely bypass the regulations by accessing non-compliant sites or using other methods to evade restrictions.
Pornhub also displays a warning to some users on its website: “Did you know that your government wants you to give your driver’s license before you can access PORNHUB? As crazy as that sounds, it’s true.”
Blocked Access in Other States
Pornhub has already restricted access in 12 other states, including Texas, Virginia, and Arkansas, where similar age-verification laws have been enacted. Visitors in these states are met with the message: “403 – This state is not whitelisted.”
On Monday, the Free Speech Coalition, a trade group representing the adult entertainment industry, filed a federal lawsuit against HB 3. The lawsuit, which names Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody as a defendant, argues that the law infringes on free speech rights and jeopardizes users’ data security.
The plaintiffs also highlight the potential financial burden of implementing verification systems and point to recent data breaches as evidence of the risks posed by requiring sensitive personal information online.
Supporters of the law argue it protects children from harmful content, with former House Speaker Paul Renner stating, “Adults can do whatever they want, but 8-year-old boys should not be accessing hard-core pornography.”
However, Aylo maintains that while keeping minors off their platform is a priority, requiring users to provide government-issued IDs threatens privacy without effectively achieving the law’s goals.
With Pornhub seeing over 11.4 billion global visits in January 2024 alone, how Florida and its residents navigate this conflict will likely draw significant attention in the coming months.
