On Friday, March 15th, 2024, PornHub blocked access to consumers in the state of Texas. Texas is the third state in 2024 that has had its access blocked. On January 1st, 2024, Montana and North Carolina were also blocked. This is all as a result of new age-verification laws being enforced in different states.

What are Age-Verification Laws?

Age verification laws frequently target two types of businesses: (1) businesses that provide material that is intended for or likely to be accessed by individuals under the age of 18 (minors) or a younger cohort of minors, such as individuals under the age of 16, and (2) businesses that provide material that is "harmful" to minors but may not be intended for their use.

State age verification laws allow for enforcement by state officials or private parties, such as the parents of a minor. Louisiana's pornography age verification law will enable individuals to bring lawsuits against commercial entities who fail to implement age verification when such a failure results in a minor accessing harmful material. Texas's attorney general has sole enforcement authority over the state's pornography age verification law, and that is what has happened here.

In February 2024, Texas Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Aylo, Pornhub's parent company, for failing to enforce the state's age verification law which went into effect in September 2023.

Blocked Users Greeted with New Block Page

Consumers visiting PornHub, or its related properties (Brazzers and YouPorn) will now be greeted with a splash page notifying them of the access restriction.

Effectiveness of Age-Verification Laws

It isn't easy to gauge how effective this is going to be. Still, it demonstrates a growing concern and awareness amongst consumers and politicians for the well-being of children online. The organization exists because of escalating challenges with children and online pornography.

The United States is one of many nations implementing such measures. The United Kingdom has been leading efforts through the Age-Appropriate Design Code, developed following research showing that 1 in 5 online users are children, with child privacy concerns ranking highly.

Laws of this type are expected to expand beyond pornography into social media platforms and possibly online video streaming and gaming services. In the United States, pending legislation includes the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act and the Kids Online Safety Act, both designed to address age verification and minimize exposure to minors.