To protest age-verification laws, Pornhub’s parent company has blocked its sites in almost half of the country. Here’s how we got here, and how VPNs can help you continue watching.
The age-verification train keeps on chugging, and with it comes even more state-level bans on Pornhub. Missouri is the latest US state to impose age-verification requirements, which prompted sites owned by Pornhub parent company Aylo (including YouPorn and Redtube) to go dark. It joins 22 other states where Aylo sites are inaccessible without a VPN (more on that later).
Overseas, Pornhub is also blocked in France, where lawmakers required porn sites to adopt an independent age-verification system. That came after the European Union opened formal age-verifications investigations into Pornhub, Stripchat, XNXX, and XVideos after a preliminary investigation found that the four sites were not complying with two elements of the region’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
Aylo backs device-based age verification, which would put the onus on companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft to check people’s ages versus specific porn sites.
«We firmly believe age verification can make the internet a safer space for everyone, when it is done right», Aylo says. «Unfortunately, the way these new laws are executed by lawmakers is ineffective and puts users’ privacy at risk. Those seeking adult content will inevitably end up on irresponsible sites that don’t enforce safety, privacy, consent, or content moderation.»
In the UK, Aylo promised to roll out «methods recognized by regulators as being capable of highly effective age assurance» to comply with the Online Safety Act (OSA). However, it reiterated that «effectiveness has been alarmingly limited, leaving the UK’s children, as well as sensitive user information, at risk. It is characteristically impossible to enforce these regulations at scale in the digital space.»
According to Pornhub’s 2025 Year in Review, the US still generates the most site visits, followed by Mexico and the Philippines. France is No. 6, and the UK is at No. 8. Pornhub notes that «France is often one of our top 3 countries for traffic», but the blockade changed that, so this year’s stats for the country only include traffic data from the first half of the year. Pornhub didn’t break out overall traffic, but Semrush says it got 4 billion visits globally in October. Which US States Are Blocked From Viewing Pornhub?
In the US, Aylo has blocked Pornhub and its other sites in the following states in protest of its age-verification laws:
Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Kansas
Kentucky
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Wyoming
So far, six states have passed age-verification bills this year: Arizona, Ohio, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
Pornhub is not blocked in Ohio because the law doesn’t apply to providers of interactive computer services, which Aylo says covers its sites, Mashable reports.
According to the Free Speech Coalition, another eight states have pending age-verification bills—Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—as well as Washington, D.C. Age-verification bills have failed in Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and West Virginia.How Did This Start in the US?
The age-verification battle in the US dates back to 2023 when Louisiana passed an age-verification bill. At the time, Pornhub complied with the law and saw its traffic drop by approximately 80% in the state.
«But we know that people didn’t stop consuming porn overnight because of this new law», Pornhub says. «They just very easily moved to pirate, illegal, or other non-compliant sites that don’t ask visitors to verify their age.
