Pornhub blocks access in some US states after age verification rules go into effect

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Pornhub, one of the world’s leading adult sites, has been taken offline in some U. S. states. U. S.

The site is now inaccessible in Montana and North Carolina. Visitors will instead see a warning about changes that Pornhub warned would leave visitors unsafe.

The outage is a reaction to new legislation in those states that will require adult websites to determine the identity of users if they are over the age of 18. As it turns out, Pornhub has gone offline in those states.

Visitors will see a warning informing them that “elected officials […] are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website”. “While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk,” the site warns.

Visitors to other websites that are owned by Pornhub parent company Aylo also saw a similar message, alongside a video from adult performer Cherie DeVille.

Pornhub has stated that it prefers device-based verification. Such a formula could simply allow device makers like Apple to determine that a user is an adult and then allow adult internet sites to determine that device, for example, even though privacy experts have warned that this may give more strength to big tech companies.

Some users have found that they can connect virtual personal networks, or VPNs, which allow them to impersonate an entirely different state or country. But otherwise, the site is blocked for users from those locations.

Security expert Matthew Green warned that this update could enable new forms of internet censorship. “The decision to add ‘age verification’ to websites at the state level is troubling, and functionally it’s pretty close to an outright ban on certain websites. ” he wrote.

He said the ban would likely not affect pornography, but that he “is concerned about the use of those laws *after* they have been tested and legal in the courts. “”I think it will be very unpleasant,” he wrote on Twitter.

The new legislation in Montana and North Carolina is part of a broader campaign against adult content on the internet. The UK, for example, is going to introduce its own age verification system, which may also require users to show ID if they need to log in. those websites.

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