**Florida Residents to Lose Access to Pornhub Starting 2025**
Residents of Florida will soon be unable to visit Pornhub, one of the largest adult platforms on the internet. As reported by Aylo, the company that owns Pornhub, the site will restrict access for users from Florida starting January 1, 2025.
A notification currently shown to users in Florida warns, “You will lose access to Pornhub in 14 days.” The notice goes on to clarify, “Did you know that your government wants you to present your driver’s license before accessing Pornhub? As absurd as it may seem, it is a reality. You will need to verify that you are 18 years or older, such as by uploading your government ID, for each adult content site you wish to visit.”
### **Why Pornhub Is Blocking Florida**
The choice to restrict Florida users originates from the state’s newly enacted law, HB3, which was signed into effect by Governor Ron DeSantis earlier this year. This law, scheduled to be implemented at the beginning of 2025, mainly targets social media platforms by forbidding those under 14 from opening accounts. Nevertheless, the bill’s broad wording encompasses online services that provide content considered “harmful to minors,” which includes adult websites.
Under HB3, technology firms are mandated to verify the ages of their users and eliminate accounts belonging to individuals under 14. Teens aged 14 or 15 will be required to obtain parental approval to establish accounts. Companies that do not comply may face legal actions and fines amounting to tens of thousands of dollars for permitting underage users to access their platforms.
Civil rights organizations, including the ACLU, have taken a stand against the legislation, labeling it as a type of “censorship.” In a comment shared by *Florida Politics*, Aylo raised concerns regarding the law, stating, “Unfortunately, the methodologies adopted by numerous jurisdictions worldwide, including Florida, for implementing age verification are ineffective, erratic, and perilous. Any regulations that compel hundreds of thousands of adult websites to gather extensive personal data pose risks to user safety. Furthermore, as past experiences have shown, if these measures are not adequately enforced, users will simply turn to non-compliant platforms or devise alternate ways to bypass these regulations.”
Aylo highlighted that while the company endorses age verification and restricting minor access, it considers Florida’s strategy to be misguided. The company pointed to privacy dangers, user safety issues, and the law’s failure to safeguard children from adult content as significant problems.
### **Porn Bans Across the U.S.**
Florida is not the first state to institute a Pornhub ban. Recently, states led by Republicans have adopted stringent age verification laws aimed at adult websites. Louisiana was the pioneer state to mandate that adult platforms confirm visitors’ ages by requiring government-issued ID uploads in 2022. Other states such as Arkansas, Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia have subsequently enacted similar laws.
In reaction, Pornhub has blocked site access in these states, citing analogous concerns regarding privacy, safety, and the impractical nature of the laws. For instance, the platform had previously restricted users in Texas and Utah for the same motivations.
As additional states embrace comparable legislation, the discussion surrounding age verification laws and their effects on privacy and online accessibility continues to expand. For the time being, residents of Florida will need to brace for the impending limitations or seek alternative ways to access adult content.