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PornHub threatens to pull out of Florida over HB 3 law, online age verification, privacy fight

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Published  December 19, 2024 8:44pm EST
Florida
FOX 35 Orlando

A major adult entertainment company has warned users in Florida that it will block access to its content and websites in 2025 when a new law seeking to protect minors from adult content goes into effect.

Florida would become the 15th U.S. state where Aylo, the parent company of PornHub and other adult entertainment websites, has restricted access as states and companies grapple between protecting minors from online adult content through age verification, and concerns over protecting adult users' data and privacy, as well as free speech arguments.

What is House Bill 3?

The Florida Legislature passed House Bill 3, "Online Protections for Minors," in March 2024 – and it was quickly signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis days later. The law prohibits children 14 and younger from creating social media accounts, requires companies to delete accounts of children 14 and younger, but allows parents of children 15 and 16 to give permission – or not – to create social media accounts.

It also requires companies that create adult content – defined as content harmful to minors – to have age verification requirements to prove those attempting to access that content are at least 18. It maintains those companies can have two options for age verification: anonymous age verification or standard age verification.

Click here to read the bill.

The law also requires those companies to have a "commercially reasonable method" to verify someone's age, including a third party, and maintains that that company must not retain personal identifying information. To opponents, this means uploading a government ID, such as a driver's license.

It goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

What they said:

"Social media harms children in a variety of ways," said Gov. Ron DeSantis after signing HB 3 into law. "HB 3 gives parents a greater ability to protect their children. Thank you to Speaker Renner for delivering this landmark legislation."

"The internet has become a dark alley for our children where predators target them and dangerous social media leads to higher rates of depression, self-harm, and even suicide," said House Speaker Paul Renner in March 2024 when HB 3 was signed.

"I am proud of the work of all our bill sponsors, Representatives Tyler Sirois, Fiona McFarland, Michele Rayner, Chase Tramont, and Toby Overdorf for delivering a legislative framework that prioritizes keeping our children safe. Thanks to Governor DeSantis’ signature, Florida leads the way in protecting children online as states across the country fight to address these dangers."

"HB 3 raises significant constitutional concerns because it intrudes on the free speech rights of adults and minors. The internet, including social media platforms, contains vast amounts of constitutionally protected speech for both adults and minors. This government censorship law places unnecessary barriers between adult users and their constitutional right to speak online," said Kara Gross, legislative director of ACLU of Florida, in March 2024 statement.

PornHub threatens to block access in Florida

This week, users in Florida accessing PornHub's website were met with a warning message: "You will lose access…in __ days." It then encouraged users to read about "device-based age verification."

In a statement to FOX 35, Aylo, the parent company of PornHub, confirmed the new message to Florida users, and said it supports age verification, but disagrees with the methods states have enacted.

"First, to be clear, Aylo has publicly supported age verification of users for years, but we believe that any law to this effect must preserve user safety and privacy, and must effectively protect children from accessing content intended for adults," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions worldwide, including Florida, have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous. Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy."

The company also argued that despite its block, people will use other methods to access its sites, such as through VPNs, which masks an IP address. 

"The best solution to make the internet safer, preserve user privacy, and prevent children from accessing adult content is performing age verification at the source: on the device. The technology to accomplish this exists today. What is required is the political and social will to make it happen. We are eager to be part of this solution and are happy to collaborate with government, civil society and tech partners to arrive at an effective device-based age verification solution."

By the numbers: PornHub said it has blocked content in 14 states: Virginia, Montana, North Carolina, Arkansas, Utah, Mississippi, Texas, Nebraska, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Indiana, Alabama, and Oklahoma.

PornHub said it complied with Louisiana's law requiring age verification – and traffic dropped 80%. 

"These people did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content."

Lawsuit filed

The Free Speech Coalition, which advocates for those who work in the adult entertainment website, has filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against HB 3, an attempt to prevent it from taking effect.

The lawsuit, filed Dec. 16, claims the law violates the First and Fourteenth constitutional amendments. It also takes concerns that adult websites could face $50,000 civil fines per alleged violation from the Florida Attorney General's office.

You can read their lawsuit here.

FOX 35 reached out to Attorney General Ashley Moody's Office after-hours on Thursday for comment. However, in a statement to The Hill, AG Moody reportedly said: "As a mother, and Florida's Attorney General, I will fight aggressively in court to ensure the ability to protect Florida children."

The Computer & Communications Industry Association filed a lawsuit in October also challenging the constitutionality of the law, claiming it violates First Amendment protections.

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