Pornhub Blocks Entire State Of Texas From Accessing Site In Response To Age Verification Law
The weekend is off to a rough start for some of the folks in Texas. They now have one less option when it comes to viewing their porn, and it's one of the world's largest adult entertainment websites.
That's because Pornhub has pulled out of the state. That's right, the adult entertainment website has blocked access to anyone attempting to access it from the state of Texas.
Emma Rose poses at the Pornhub booth at the 2024 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo at Resorts World Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Why would they do such a thing? They blocked access in the state of Texas because of its age verification legislation. The legislation was signed into law in the state last year.
A legal battle over the law followed and came to a head on Thursday. As a result, Pornhub, who is not a fan of the new law, responded by yanking access to anyone in the state.
Their stance is that requiring people to prove they're over the age of 18 before taking matters into their own hands impinges on the rights of adults to access protected speech.
Texas Is The Latest State To Be Blocked By Pornhub
Anyone hoping to access the site is now greeted with a message explaining their position on the matter. It's addressed to the users and reads in part:
"As you may know, your elected officials in Texas are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas's stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors."
"While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, providing identification every time you want to visit an adult platform is not an effective solution for protecting users online, and in fact, will put minors and your privacy at risk."
The Pornhub logo is being displayed on a smartphone screen in Athens, Greece. (Photo Illustration by Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Texas is the latest state that Pornhub has blocked in response to their laws requiring age verification before taking care of business. Virginia, Utah, Arkansas, Montana, Mississippi, and North Carolina - I had no idea, wink - have all been forced to do business elsewhere.
Mission accomplished? Technically, if nobody has access to the site, then minors can't access it either. Obviously, that doesn't address the fact that adults aren't able to access the site.
How to go about that is still up for debate. Which means this is likely headed for an even bigger and messier court battle. In the meantime Texans will have to find other ways to entertain themselves.