The January blues are set to land in a big way for one U.S. state in 2025, with Pornhub due to banned over controversial new changes. No matter what you think about internet pornography, there's no denying the popularity of Pornhub.
While Google is by far and away the most-visited website in the world, Pornhub is the most-visited adult website and currently sits as the 19th-most-visited website around the globe. When you realize it's everyday sites like Facebook, Reddit, and ChatGPT ranking higher, it puts into context just how popular Pornhub is. Still, its traffic could be about to take a hit as it annexes the Sunshine State.
Pornhub is pulling the plug on Florida over new age verification laws.
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On December 17, Pornhub users in Florida were greeted with a pop-up warning them they'll lose access in 14 days. The statement reads: "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. You'll be required to prove you are 18 years or older such as by uploading your government ID for every adult content website you'd like to access."
It comes after Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill in March 2024, requiring websites that are deemed to feature sexual content to include stringent age verification mechanisms. This was brought into law, known as HB 3.
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Pornhub's statement adds: "We don't want minors accessing our site and think preventing that from happening is a good thing. But putting everybody's privacy at risk won't achieve that."
Parent company Aylo has decided to block the site rather than comply to the new law. This means Florida joins Pornhub's ban in 12 other states: Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.
Anyone who tries to visit in those states (and Florida from Jan 1) will be greeted with, "403 - This state is not whitelisted."
Speaking at a conference in Jacksonville, DeSantis told crowds: "You can have a kid in the house safe, seemingly, and then you have predators that can get right in there into your own home.
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“You could be doing everything right but they know how to get and manipulate these different platforms."
Pornhub's defiance has been met with criticism from Rep. Chase Tremont, who told Florida Politics: "The fact that they’ve chosen to shut down instead of complying to ensure that children aren’t accessing their site tells us exactly who their real target audience is."
Aylo has defended its decision, saying it has supported age verification for years but pointed to its compliance with new laws in Louisiana: "Since then, our traffic in Louisiana dropped approximately 80%.
"These people did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don’t ask users to verify age, that don’t follow the law, that don’t take user safety seriously, and that often don’t even moderate content."
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Despite a trade group representing the adult entertainment industry filing a federal lawsuit against HB 3, those in Florida will soon have to get their rocks off somewhere else other than Pornhub.