Pornhub blocks access to Virginia users in response to new age verification law

Virginians will likely be disappointed the next time they try to access Pornhub.

The popular pornography site has blocked users with Virginia-based IP addresses in response to the state’s legislature passing a law that requires users to submit government identification to verify their age before watching their adult content. The new law, passed in May, goes into effect Saturday.

Users will be met with a message opposing the legislation, accompanied by a video featuring porn actress Cherie Deville reading it.

“As you may know, your elected officials in Virginia are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website,” the statement reads. “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 statement goes on to argue that the law doesn’t properly enforce the age verification requirement, meaning some platforms can choose whether to comply or not. Pornhub said the best solution to protect children is “to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification.”

“As we’ve seen in other states, [requiring ID] just drives traffic to sites with far fewer safety measures in place. Very few sites are able to compare to the robust Trust and Safety measures we currently have in place,” the statement continues. “To protect children and user privacy, any legislation must be enforced against all platforms offering adult content.”

When asked ahead of signing the bill in May whether he was concerned about Pornhub making such a move, Gov. Glenn Youngkin told The Pilot that he would take the bill’s ramifications into account when making his decision.

“I believe that children should be protected from pornography and I want to make sure that we do that,” Youngkin said at the time.

The bill states commercial entities that knowingly publish material “harmful to minors” on the Internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of such material must verify that users are 18 or older. Users would need to submit copies of government-issued identification or another reasonable method of age and identity verification.

Material deemed harmful to minors in the bill is any that includes descriptions or representations of nudity, sexual conduct or sexual excitement, or that appeals to the “prurient, shameful, or morbid” interest of minors and lacks serious literary, scientific or artistic value.

Those in violation would not face criminal penalties but would be subject to civil liabilities.

Virginia is the second state to get the cold shoulder from Pornhub. Utah passed a similar law in March, and the site blocked access to users in the state in the days before the law took effect in May.

Free speech advocates have come out against this legislation, arguing that personal data related to pornography usage could be vulnerable to hacks as a result.

Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com