Security News > 2024 > January > PornHub blocks North Carolina, Montana over new age verification laws
Adult media giant Aylo has blocked access to many of its websites, including PornHub, to visitors from Montana and North Caroline as new age verifications laws go into effect.
As of January 1st, new age verification laws went into effect in Montana and North Carolina that require adult websites to verify the age of visitors from those states.
Under these new laws, failure to use reasonable age verification services could cause the company to be liable to lawsuits from individuals.
"A commercial entity that knowingly and intentionally publishes or distributes material harmful to minors on the internet from a website that contains a substantial portion of the material must be held liable if the entity fails to perform reasonable age verification methods to verify the age of individuals attempting to access the material," reads Montana's Bill 544.
Similar age verification bills were adopted in Utah, Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas over the past year, with a federal judge later striking down Texas' bill.
Mandating age verification without proper enforcement gives platforms the opportunity to choose whether or not to comply. As we've seen in other states, this 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. To protect children and user privacy, any legislation must be enforced against all platforms offering adult content."