LOS ANGELES — Adult entertainment giant Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub and several other major adult platforms, has expanded its list of U.S. states where access is restricted. As of July 1, users in Georgia, South Dakota, and Wyoming are now blocked from visiting any Aylo-owned sites, unless they use a virtual private network (VPN).
The move comes in direct response to new state-level age verification laws that officially took effect at the start of the fiscal year. These laws, aimed at regulating access to explicit content, require adult websites to implement stricter age-checking procedures, often involving sensitive personal information such as government-issued ID.
Aylo has long maintained that while it supports protecting minors from adult content, it advocates for privacy-conscious solutions that do not require excessive data collection. The company argues that the current legislation being adopted by various states places an unnecessary burden on both platforms and users.
With the addition of Georgia, South Dakota, and Wyoming, the list of blocked states now includes:
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
The most recent changes follow closely on the heels of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling, where a 6-3 majority upheld Texas’s age verification law as constitutional. The ruling was a setback for Aylo and a coalition of adult industry plaintiffs who argued that the law infringed on free speech and digital privacy rights.
In a statement to AVN, a representative for Aylo reaffirmed the company’s position, stating that it remains committed to implementing responsible age verification, but not at the expense of user privacy and security.
For users in affected states, the only workaround currently available is the use of VPNs, which allow access by masking a user’s geographic location. However, this is not officially recommended or endorsed by Aylo.
As the debate over age verification laws continues, more states are expected to consider similar legislation, potentially expanding the number of regions impacted by site blocks in the coming months.
