The Pornhub Ban Sent Searches for Free VPNs Through the Roof in Florida
By Luis PradaJanuary 3, 2025, 4:09pm
Share:
On January 1, 2025, searches for “free VPN” skyrocketed in Florida—totally unrelated, Pornhub was just banned statewide.
If you’re unaware, as of January 1, Florida joined the ranks of several other red states that have implemented age verification laws for accessing adult content. In protest, the massively popular porn site Pornhub blocked access to users in the state of Florida, that is unless a user is using a VPN to mask their location and get around that pesky little restriction.
Videos by VICE
Florida’s House Bill 3 says that websites hosting adult content could face fines of up to $50,000 for each violation, along with civil liabilities, if they do not comply with the age verification requirement.The state of Florida, along with several other Republican states that have enacted similar laws, say this is an attempt to protect kids when it just seems like a thinly veiled attempt for red states to track what type of porn its citizens watch since the age verification process requires the user to input their personal information. It’s all one big stupid invasion of privacy, not to mention a security risk, all of which would be at the site’s expense.
So, naturally, people looking for their porn fix have turned to VPNs that mask their location. Google Trends data showed a significant spike in VPN-related searches in Florida on December 31, 2024, the eve of Florida’s age verification law.
The VPNs Floridians are installing right now will help them tiptoe around the state’s silly new rule that isn’t a full-on porn ban but might as well be. Aylo, Pornhub’s parent company, is not opposed to age verification systems, but they feel the way Florida and other red states have gone about it is “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.”
Aylo has gone on record saying that they would prefer age verification systems at the device level, rather than a blanket system that affects an entire state and puts the financial onus on the sites themselves. Republicans sure love their big government, don’t they?
