(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) Pornhub made it clear that it wanted to groom children by announcing its plans to block access to its website in five conservative states — Indiana, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska — after they implemented age verification laws designed to prevent children from accessing pornographic websites.
To protest similar age verification laws that have quickly spread across conservative states, Pornhub cut off access to its website in more than half a dozen states, the Verge reported.
The pornographic industry also sued states like Indiana over the age verification laws.
A spokesperson for Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, who asked to only be identified as Ian due to safety concerns, informed the news source that Kentucky would lose access to the website on June 10, 2024, Indiana, Idaho and Kansas would lose access on June 28, 2024, and Nebraska will lose access on July 17, 2024.
The blackout will apply to all of Aylo’s pornographic websites, which include more than a dozen other brands, Ian said.
Instead of admitting that the company is going after the kids, Aylo made up an excuse for why they will block access to the website in the state, instead of just blocking minors from seeing something that they are not supposed to see.
The parent company said it decided to block access to its websites over privacy concerns around the new laws since adults would need to upload some form of government ID to prove they’re adults.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation criticized the laws as “surveillance systems,” adding that they could lead to misuse or theft of sensitive data.
“This scheme would lead us further towards an internet where our private data is collected and sold by default,” the organization stated in 2023.
Aylo said it supports age verification but views the current laws as “ineffective, haphazard and dangerous.”
The news source reported that the company implemented ID-based age verification in Louisiana last year and said traffic dropped by 80% because, as expected, people would not want to expose themselves as regular porn watchers.
The policy would drive consumers to websites that don’t follow the law and may otherwise fail to moderate their content, the company argued.
“The world’s biggest porn site would rather stop doing business than prevent kids from watching. Quite telling!” Michael Knowles of the Daily Wire wrote.
The world's biggest porn site would rather stop doing business than prevent kids from watching. Quite telling! https://t.co/AInI9Knb5B
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) June 20, 2024
As of June 20, 2024, Pornhub was banned in Texas, North Carolina, Montana, Mississippi, Virginia, Arkansas and Utah.
