The Blubber

Pornhub will cease operations in five more states this summer due to new legislation requiring age verification on adult entertainment websites. The decision comes in response to recently passed laws mandating that porn websites and other platforms with explicit adult content verify users' ages. In these states, users would need to upload a copy of their driver's license or another government ID, or register with a third-party age verification service, to access sites like Pornhub.

A blog post from Pornhub announced that Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, and Nebraska are the latest states where the site will shut down. Operations will end in these states in July 2024. The website recently ceased operations in Texas and has also blocked access in Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Utah, and Virginia due to similar legislation.

Lawmakers supporting these age-verification laws argue that the rules are necessary to prevent children from viewing explicit content. For instance, the Kentucky bill described pornography as a "public health crisis" with a "corroding influence" on children.

Pornhub's parent company, Aylo, argues that these laws jeopardize user privacy and may not effectively prevent minors from accessing explicit content. After Louisiana enacted a similar law last year and Aylo continued operating with a government-supported age verification service, Pornhub traffic in the state dropped by 80 percent.

"These people did not stop looking for porn," Aylo told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. "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." The company advocates for a device-based age verification solution rather than state legislation to keep minors off adults-only sites.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation also raised privacy concerns about these bills, emphasizing that no age-verification method is foolproof. "No one should have to hand over their driver’s license just to access free websites. That’s why EFF opposes mandated age verification laws, no matter how well-intentioned they may be," the organization said in a 2023 statement.