Pornhub pulls out of Virginia over age verification law

"The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns," Pornhub said. "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. Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Virginia.”

According to 8News, the new law which takes effect July 1 will require pornographic websites to verify users in the state are at least 18 years old before they can access adult content.

Porn sites are required to set up a process by which to verify a user’s age such as providing their identification and those that do not comply open themselves up to civil lawsuits in Virginia.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Glenn Youngkin said “The governor remains committed to protecting Virginia’s children from dangerous material on the internet.”

Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Utah have passed similar legislation, while several others have already introduced age verification laws.

The trade association for the adult industry called The Free Speech Coalition and other groups have filed a lawsuit challenging Utah and Louisiana’s laws but the groups have not announced yet if they plan to file a legal challenge to Virginia’s law.

Free Speech Coalition’s spokesperson Mike Stabile told 8News, “It’s not a matter of if these laws will be ruled unconstitutional but when.”