Pornhub was blocked in Texas
Pornhub was blocked in Texas, but also other sites with porn content; this blocking is a consequence of the age verification law.
It was learned that Pornhub and other adult websites affiliated to this type of platforms have blocked access to users in Texas, in the United States.
The cause is a strong legal dispute over an age verification law.
After the entry into operation of the new Texas state law, which requires websites that offer pornography to verify the age of users each time they enter the application.
Pornhub was blocked in Texas after a federal appeals court upheld a new Texas law that requires pornography sites to institute age verification measures to ensure that only adults over the age of 18 can access them.
The decision comes in response to a move to protect the company, one of the most popular porn content providers in the world.
The ruling came after a federal judge argued that the Texas law violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition against restrictions on free speech.
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Pornhub was blocked in Texas
So, Pornhub was blocked in Texas and there is no idea when it will be back online.
“As you may know, your elected officials in Texas require us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. This not only impinges on the rights of adults to access protected expression, but fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also the most restrictive means to achieve Texas’ stated purpose of supposedly protecting minors,” reads PornHub’s message.
As a solution, authorities explain that a real solution must be offered, until such time, a decision to completely disable access to the website in Texas will be difficult.
“In doing so, we comply with the law, as we always do, but we hope that governments around the world will implement laws that truly protect the safety of users,” the message continues.
The Texas law was signed by Republican Governor Greg Abbott in June 2023 and its implementation was scheduled to go live as of last September 1; however, it was put on hold after the lawsuit filed by the Free Speech Coalition (an app group that includes Pornhub’s parent company).
Application of the law
The law will apply to apps whose content is more than one-third “sexually harmful material for minors” and requires them to verify the age of all visitors using government-issued identification or “public or private transactional data.”
Pornhub argues that, “as has happened in other states,” age verification without effective enforcement methods not only puts the privacy of underage and adult users at risk, but can also lead to less safe site usage.
The company claims that very few sites are able to match its security and privacy measures outlined in its Trust and Safety standards.
A federal appeals court upheld the state law less than a week ago, after a federal judge found that the law violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
According to Variety, Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company and a member of the Free Speech Coalition group, had won a preliminary injunction that postponed implementation of the law until the recent endorsement.
