Pornhub has disabled access to its adult website for users located in Virginia in response to the state’s new law mandating age verification for online porn providers. The law is designed to force porn companies to verify that users are at least 18.
The new law, state Sen. William M. Stanley Jr. (R), will require websites with pornographic content to verify users in Virginia are at least 18 years old before they access the site. It is set to take effect on July 1.
Pornhub model take a selfie (Ethan Miller /Getty)
“The safety of our users is one of our biggest concerns,” Pornhub said in a statement, according to a report by WRIC-TV. “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,” the pornography website added.
When the new law goes into effect, websites featuring adult content must establish a method to verify the age of Virginians visiting their site — such as requiring that people submit digital copies of their IDs — in order for them to access the website.
Sites featuring adult content that refuse to comply with the new law could face civil lawsuits in Virginia.
“The governor remains committed to protecting Virginia’s children from dangerous material on the internet,” a spokeswoman for Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said.
This is not the first time Pornhub has blocked access for users in a state in response to a new law mandating age verification.
As Breitbart News reported in May, the porn site disabled access to its website for users located in Utah in response to the state’s newly enacted law mandating age verification for online porn providers.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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