Fact Check: Has Pornhub Been Banned In States Across the US?

More than a dozen states across the United States in the past 18 months have imposed or set out plans to restrict access to adult entertainment sites, with some social media posts claiming Pornhub had been banned in several states.

Politicians have argued the measures are intended to protect children. At the same time, the website owners claim the restrictions will do no such thing, causing content creators to lose revenue and suppress artistic liberties.

In a series of social media posts, it was claimed that the restrictions represented a "ban," with maps shared online purportedly showing the states where this "ban" on adult material was being imposed.

The Claim

A post on Reddit by user CFrosty10, posted on June 17, 2024, titled "Pornhub Ban in these states. Good luck," included a map of the United States, marking Idaho, Utah, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Virginia, as subject to a "Pornhub Ban."

The Facts

The post by CFrosty10 and others shared elsewhere on social media have since been deleted by moderators or the users.

While the reason for these deletions is not clear, the maps and claims behind them are misleading, as while these states have placed restrictions on access to the adult website Pornhub, it has not been outright banned.

These are not the only states where the restrictions have been imposed either. As reported by Newsweek in May, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Virginia have passed, or have agreed to pass age-restriction laws.

However, none of these states have banned the website completely, opting for an age verification check to prove that users are over 18. Each state features its own version of the age-verification law, but the principle is similar across all of them.

While there is text at the bottom of the image posted on Reddit

The restrictions apply to other pornographic websites too, not just Pornhub.

However, Pornhub did prevent access to it and its content network sister sites after and an appeals court ruled that Texas can enforce a law that requires age-verification systems on pornographic websites.

Aylo, the company which owns Pornhub, YouPorn and Brazzers, said the new laws were "ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous."

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Aylo in February 2024, accusing the company of violating House Bill 1181, which requires pornographic websites "use reasonable age-verification methods" to "verify that an individual attempting to access the material is 18 years of age or older."

The bill, which Governor Greg Abbott signed into law in June 2023, also requires websites to "display health warnings about the effects of the consumption of pornography."

In a 2-1 decision in February 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of the law, but said Texas would not be able to enforce the provision requiring the controversial health warnings.

A lower court blocked the law in a preliminary ruling on August 31, a day before it was to take effect. U.S. District Judge David Ezra ruled that it would impinge on adults' access to free speech by requiring them to identify themselves to use the site and that there were other ways to halt children from accessing pornography.

The Ruling

Needs Context.

While more than a dozen states have set or plan to set restrictions requiring age verification for access to adult websites, it does not ban access to all users. While Pornhub has removed access to its site in Texas, following a protracted battle by local lawmakers to impose age restrictions, the site would otherwise have not been outright "banned" had it not done so.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team