Pornhub plots return to North Carolina browsers
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
New memberships granting access to the majority of PornHub's content can't legally be created in North Carolina. Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Pornhub is hoping to return to North Carolinians' web browsers and search histories by challenging the state's age verification rules for porn sites.
Why it matters: It's been nearly three years since residents could directly access one of the biggest names in online pornography.
State of play: Last week, Pornhub sent a letter to more than 300 elected officials across multiple states — including North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and more than a dozen Republican state lawmakers — asking for them to rethink or rescind laws that require adult website visitors to verify their age, Politico reports.
- The laws that exist now in roughly half of all states "demonstrably do not work" — putting adults' personal data at risk and failing to shield the minors they were written to protect, Pornhub wrote.
Yes, but: There's little indication that North Carolina leaders have an appetite to revisit the topic.
- A Stein spokesperson told Axios the governor "has worked hard to protect kids from bad actors and obscene information on the internet," and that "all of us — including device manufacturers, content providers, government, and of course, parents — have a role to play."
- None of the Republican state reps who received the letter responded to requests from Axios for comment. Hemp dominated the House's schedule this week.
Flashback: Under a North Carolina law that went into effect in 2024, websites that publish content harmful to minors (i.e., porn) have to verify that users are 18 or older.
- In response, PornHub blocked access to most of its site in North Carolina, calling the state's photo ID rules unworkable, as it's done in nearly every other state with similar laws.
What they're saying: “Age verification is required for the purchase of alcohol, tobacco, and online sports betting because of the associated risks to our children and pornography is just as dangerous,” Republican Rep. Neal Jackson said at the time, per Courthouse News.
- Most children have seen online porn before turning 14, a 2022 study of teens in the U.S. found.
Reality check: Porn has remained accessible for North Carolinians of all ages since 2024.
- In an Axios review of active porn sites last year, roughly 65% failed to ask for age verification.
- And there's always VPN services, which let users route their internet traffic through other states or countries.
That's kind of Pornhub's point with its letter and push for a law change.
- Instead of site-specific age verification requirements, Pornhub says lawmakers should put the responsibility on the tech giants — including Apple, Microsoft and Google — to make parental controls the default settings on their operating systems.
What's next: Lawmakers don't plan to take additional votes before the November midterm elections.