The new age verification laws have gone into effect in the US states of
Montana
and
North Carolina
as of January 1, 2021. As a result, some adult websites have either blocked access from these regions or have started requiring visitors to provide a copy of their government ID for verification purposes. Meanwhile,
PornHub
has chosen to block people in both states from accessing its website instead of asking for verification. Other websites owned by Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, including
Brazzers
,
Redtube
, and more, are also no longer accessible in these regions.
Users in Montana and North Carolina attempting to access an Aylo website will encounter a video message featuring performer Cherie DeVille. In the message, DeVille explains that sharing personal identification details with adult websites poses a risk to both children and privacy. DeVille advocates for identifying users by their device to allow access to age-restricted materials based on that identification.
“As you may know, your elected officials in your state 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.” DeVille says in the video message.
"The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns. We believe that the best and most effective solution for protecting children and adults alike is to identify users by their device and allow access to age-restricted materials and websites based on that identification," DeVille adds further. "Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in your state."
In the US, Montana and North Carolina have seen a surge in searches for "VPN" in recent days.
The same video message is shown to users from other states with comparable age verification laws when they visit Pornhub. Montana and North Carolina are the most recent states to adopt the law, following Louisiana's lead in early 2023. Since then, Utah, Arkansas, Mississippi, Virginia, and Texas have passed their own laws. North Carolina's rule was passed as part of legislation requiring high school students to take computer science courses.
Other adult websites have partnered with third-party providers to verify the age of users instead of blocking entire regions. For instance,
xHamster
, another adult film website, requires North Carolina or Montana users to verify their identity through Yoti, a third-party service.
English (US) ·