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Pornhub Closes Doors To Florida Over Stricter Age Verification Rules

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Justyn Newman Former Lead Cybersecurity Editor

Pornhub, one of the world’s largest adult websites, will block access to its platform in Florida starting January 1, 2025.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

• Florida’s new law mandates age verification for adult websites starting Jan. 1, 2025.
• Non-compliance with the law can result in fines up to $50,000 per violation.
• Critics argue age verification laws threaten privacy, online freedoms, and adult access.

The decision comes in response to a new state law requiring adult content websites to implement age verification systems or face hefty fines.

The Florida law, part of HB 3 , was introduced to enhance online child safety. The law requires adult websites to offer anonymous or standard age verification methods to confirm users are 18 or older. Sites that fail to comply may face fines of up to $50,000 per violation and legal damages of up to $10,000 per claimant, as reported by Yahoo News .

Pornhub, one of the most prominent and widely visited adult websites, has consistently blocked access in states implementing new ID requirements for adult content, noted Yahoo.

Earlier this year, Texas was blocked, followed by Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, and Nebraska in July. Last month, Oklahoma was added to the list, leaving millions of residents without access.

Yahoo reports a message on the site states: “YOU WILL LOSE ACCESS TO PORNHUB IN 14 DAYS […] Did you know that your government wants you to give your driver’s license before you can access PORNHUB? As crazy as that sounds, it’s true.”

Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, criticized the law, arguing that its implementation is flawed. “The way many jurisdictions worldwide, including Florida, have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous,” a company spokesperson said in an email, as reported by Yahoo.

The company pointed to Louisiana’s 2023 law as an example. Pornhub complied with the legislation, which led to an 80% drop in traffic from the state and a rise in users turning to unregulated platforms, says Yahoo.

Aylo maintains that parental controls are a more effective tool for protecting minors online, as reported by Yahoo.

Critics argue such laws hurt adults’ access to legal content and risk broader censorship. The Free Speech Coalition calls the process invasive, with significant privacy risks, likening it to censorship that endangers online freedoms and personal rights under the guise of age verification.

While blocked users in Florida will be unable to access the site directly, workarounds like VPNs—services that route internet connections through other states or countries—remain an option. Google searches for VPN services spiked in states previously blocked by Pornhub, reported Yahoo.

Content creators in Florida, however, will not face disruptions. Pornhub’s IP block redirects creators to a separate login, allowing them to maintain their accounts and upload content, says Yahoo.

As the debate over online safety and digital rights continues, Pornhub’s stance highlights ongoing tensions between protecting children, safeguarding privacy, and preserving free speech.

Photo by Julio Lopez on Unsplash

Threads Introduces Post-Scheduling For Users And Businesses

• Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert

The Head of Instagram and Threads Adam Mosseri announced a new post-scheduling feature for the platform Threads.

In a Rush? Here are the Quick Facts!

• Threads is testing a new post-scheduling tool that will soon be released for all users
• The new feature will allow users and businesses to schedule posts but not comments
• Mosseri invited users selected for the test to share feedback during the testing period

Mosseri explained that they have been developing the new tool this year and that it’s now in the testing process.

“We’ll soon start testing scheduled Threads posts, which we’ve been working on for months,” wrote Mosseri in a post . “Replies cannot be scheduled — we want to balance giving people more control to plan their Threads posts while still encouraging real-time conversation.”

All users and businesses will soon be able to schedule posts on the social media platform as they do on other networks like Linkedin and X.

The head of Thread also invited users chosen for the test to share feedback to improve the feature and shared an image of what the scheduling tool looks like.

According to TechCrunch , people selected for the test will see the “schedule” option in the menu when sharing a post. After a user schedules a post, it is stored in the draft folder until its publication.

While many users liked the new feature, others were not pleased. “I find scheduling just turns platforms into outsourced content,” wrote one user in Mosseri’s post, “It actually ruins platforms because people don’t have to show up anymore they just pay a social media manager to run their channel.”

“I’m curious about how many scheduled posts the platform allows,” wrote another.

Threads has been announcing multiple updates and new features in the past few days—like an algorithm update to prioritize accounts users follow and a new possibility for users to interact in the fediverse —especially after Bluesky started gaining millions of followers in the past few weeks.