Pornhub is blocked in Texas. Now it's asking lawmakers to change an age verification law

Tiffani Jackson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Aug 6, 2026

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Pornhub is trying to convince Texas lawmakers to rethink the state’s age verification law for adult websites.

The effort comes more than a year after the pornography website blocked access in Texas instead of complying with the requirement.

Now, Pornhub is making a new push to change the law that led to that decision.

So what exactly is the company asking for, and could anything change for Texans?

Here’s what to know.

Why is Pornhub blocked in Texas?

Pornhub became unavailable in Texas after a state law requiring adult websites to confirm visitors are at least 18 before accessing sexually explicit content took effect in 2023.

The law, House Bill 1181, applies to websites where more than one-third of the content is considered harmful to minors.

It requires websites to verify a person’s age by checking a government issued photo ID or using other age verification methods.

Rather than comply with the law, Pornhub blocked access to its website in Texas.

At the time, its parent company, Aylo, said it supported keeping minors from accessing adult content but believed asking people to upload their identification directly to adult websites raised privacy concerns.

The law became enforceable in March 2024 after a federal appeals court allowed the age verification requirement to move forward.

The U.S. Supreme Court later upheld the law in 2025, meaning the age verification requirement remains in effect in Texas today.

Why is Pornhub trying to change Texas’ age verification law?

Pornhub says Texas’ age verification law hasn’t done what it was intended to do.

In a July 29 letter sent to Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and other Texas lawmakers, the company wrote, “We can no longer accept laws that create the appearance of action while failing to address the challenge of keeping kids safe online.”

The company argues requiring individual websites to verify users’ ages creates privacy concerns because people have to repeatedly provide personal information to access adult content.

Instead, Pornhub says states should require age verification through systems developed by companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft, rather than leaving it up to individual websites.

“Phones, tablets and computers could start as kid-safe devices by default, where only verified adults would be able to disable safeguards designed to protect minors from age-inappropriate content, including pornography,” the company wrote. “This method protects minors without requiring adults to surrender unnecessary personal information to multiple websites.”

Pornhub also argues the current system is easy to get around because some users simply visit websites that don’t comply with age verification laws or use virtual private networks, known as VPNs.

The company says device-based verification would make those workarounds less effective while reducing the amount of personal information adults have to share online.

As of Aug. 3, neither Abbott, Paxton nor Texas lawmakers had publicly responded to the letter.

Where is Pornhub blocked?

Pornhub has blocked access in multiple states that have passed age verification laws for adult websites.

According to the company, the site is currently unavailable in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

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