Texas
Searches for VPN Skyrocket in Texas After Pornhub Shuts Down Access in State
Searches by Texas users for the term “VPN” jumped more than fourfold after Pornhub and its parent company’s network of other pornography websites disabled access in the state this week, according to Google data.
VPNs, or virtual private networks, establish an encrypted connection between a user and the public internet — and they can also mask the location of user, making it appear as if they’re accessing the internet from another state or country.
A number of Texans evidently have a newfound interest in location-spoofing VPN services, coming after Pornhub and other affiliated adult websites on March 14 blocked access to users in the state to protest Texas’ age-verification law requiring pornography sites to institute age-verification measures to ensure only adults 18 and older are able to access them.
A new message displayed Thursday on Pornhub (and other sites operated by parent company Aylo) to users with internet addresses registered to ISPs in Texas explained that it was disabling access to comply with the law. The company claims it has long supported age-verification access measures, but criticized the Texas law as “ineffective, haphazard and dangerous” because it forces users to provide identification every time they visit an adult-content platform rather than verifying users’ ages on their devices.
“Until the real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Texas,” the message on Pornhub and other Aylo sites said. “In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”
Of the 20 metro areas tracked by Google, the highest search interest in VPNs over that the past seven days was in Dallas-Ft. Worth, followed by Houston, Austin, Waco-Temple-Bryan and San Antonio.
Here’s the Google Trends chart showing relative search interest in the term “VPN” over the past seven days in Texas:
Aylo is owned by Canadian private-equity firm Ethical Capital Partners, which acquired Pornhub’s predecessor company MindGeek for undisclosed financial terms last year.
In a statement, Alex Kekesi, Aylo’s VP of brand and community, said about the situation in Texas: “This is not the end. We are reviewing options and consulting with our legal team… We will continue to fight for our industry and the performers that legally earn a living, and we will continue to appeal through all available judicial recourse to recognize that this law is unconstitutional.”
Pornhub and Aylo’s network of other sites — which include Brazzers, RedTube, YouPorn, Mofos and Reality Kings — are also blocked or restricted in at least seven other U.S. states where similar laws have been enacted: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Virginia and Utah.
Netflix was sued Monday (May 11) by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who accused the streaming company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent, and designing its platform to be addictive. Ram Nabong reports.
Evercore ISI senior managing director Mark Mahaney joins Varney & Co. to discuss the departure of Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings and to address questions about the company’s future leadership and strategy.
The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday, accusing the company of spying on children and other consumers by collecting their data without consent and designing the platform to be addictive.
Texas claims that Netflix has falsely represented to consumers that it didn’t collect or share user data while it actually tracked and sold viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies.
The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, claims that “Netflix’s endgame is simple and lucrative: get children and families glued to the screen, harvest their data while they are stuck there, and then monetize the data for a handsome profit.”
The state of Texas announced a lawsuit against streaming giant Netflix on Monday. (Nikos Pekiaridis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“When you watch Netflix, Netflix watched you,” Texas added in the lawsuit.
NETFLIX CO-FOUNDER REED HASTINGS TO STEP DOWN, DEPARTURE IS ‘SPOOKING INVESTORS’
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFLX | NETFLIX INC. | 85.39 | -2.10 | -2.40% |
The complaint quotes comments made by former CEO Reed Hastings who said in 2020, while he was still leading the streaming company, that “we don’t collect anything,” amid questions over Big Tech companies’ data collection practices.
Netflix was also accused of quietly using “dark patterns” to keep users watching on its platform, such as an autoplay feature that starts a new show after a different show ends.
NETFLIX RAISES SUBSCRIPTION PRICES ACROSS ALL PLANS
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the lawsuit. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)
Paxton said in a press release that Netflix “has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it.”
The attorney general said he’s charging Netflix under the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act and seeks to require Netflix to stop the unlawful collection and disclosure of user data, require Netflix to disable autoplay by default on kid’s profiles, and to secure injunctive relief and civil penalties.
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FOX Business reached out to Netflix for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Six people were found dead inside a cargo train boxcar in a Texas city along the southern border on Sunday, officials said.
The bodies were found in a Union Pacific train at a rail yard in Laredo, around 160 miles south of San Antonio, just after 3:30 p.m. local time, said Jose Espinoza, a public information officer with the Laredo Police Department.
The circumstances of their deaths are unknown, said Laredo police spokesperson Joe Baeza, according to CNN affiliate KGNS, and an investigation is underway.
Union Pacific operates across the border and is the only railroad that services all access points into Mexico, according to the freight company’s website.
Temperatures on Sunday afternoon in Laredo were in the low-mid 90s, though it’s unclear whether heat was a factor.
Union Pacific said it was saddened by the incident and is working closely with law enforcement to investigate.
Laredo police said they received a call around 3 p.m. from an employee at the Union Pacific rail yard, KGNS reported. The bodies were discovered during a routine rail car inspection, police said. No survivors were found.
CNN has reached out to Laredo police for more information.
“It’s a very early phase of the investigation. There’s not a lot to reveal right now,” Baeza said, KGNS reported.
The immigration status and ages of the deceased are not yet known, Espinoza said.
US Customs and Border Protection referred CNN to the Laredo Police Department, saying “The incident remains under investigation by Laredo Police Department and Homeland Security Investigation and Texas Rangers.”
CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, HSI and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“It’s a very unfortunate event,” Espinoza told CNN. “It was too many lives that were lost.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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