PornHub and other Aylo sites are now blocked in North Carolina and Montana as the state’s age verification laws have come into effect, reports Engadget. As well as PornHub, Aylo also owns pornographic websites Brazzers, Redtube, and YouPorn.
Louisiana introduced laws requiring adult platforms and websites to verify users’ age in 2023, and multiple other states have followed suit, including Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas. Many of the laws are very similar to Louisiana’s law, which includes claims about pornography addiction and the risk of harm to viewers.
Instead of making users in these states jump through hoops to verify their age, Aylo has decided to simply block their sites in those states. Users in those states attempting to access the site will find a message from the site, delivered by Cherie DeVille, a performer. In the message, DeVille explains why the sites are no longer accessible.
Why has PornHub been blocked in North Carolina and Montana?
Many other websites have chosen to implement third-party age verification to allow users in these states to continue to access their websites, but Aylo-owned sites are not taking this path.
In Louisiana, there is a state ID driving license app which PornHub is using to verify local users’ ages. However, many states do not have such an app, and the sites have concerns about privacy and safety.
“As you may know, your elected officials in your state are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk.” States the message on Aylo’s sites.
It continues: “The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns. We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their devices and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification. Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in your state.”
The EU is also making moves to regulate PornHub under new rules governing very large online platforms, with over 45 million users per month.
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