Cutting corners: Floridians are turning to VPNs to bypass blocks brought about by the state's new age verification requirements for accessing online porn. Data from Google Trends shows that searches for "free VPN" have skyrocketed in Florida over the past few days.
The law officially went into effect on January 1, making Florida one of 17 states – mostly in the South – enforcing such regulations. However, many adult sites are either blocking access in the state altogether or simply ignoring the law. In response, users are turning to VPNs to bypass the restrictions while also masking their real IP addresses and locations.
The trends don't lie. As reported by Newsweek, VPN queries hit the roof right as the new year rolled in, scoring a perfect 100 on Google's scale on January 2. This was a big jump over the 37 score on December 30. Floridians were also firing off searches for specific VPN brands as well as "internet pornography" and the puzzling "computer virus" during that window.
Currently, when Floridians attempt to visit Pornhub, they are no longer greeted with the usual adult content. Instead, they see a PSA from adult star Cherie DeVille explaining the situation.
"As you may know, your elected officials in Florida are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk," she says.
Unsurprisingly, Pornhub reports that its traffic from Florida has already plunged by 80% since the law took effect. However, there's a good chance that many users are simply switching to VPNs or turning to other platforms.
For now, Pornhub has voluntarily blocked itself across nearly all states with these age verification laws. Louisiana is an exception though and the site is still allowing access there through its "LA Wallet" digital ID system.
While the regulation may sound promising in theory, civil liberty groups warn of serious privacy risks, especially considering the role of data brokers. Just last year, a Florida-based firm leaked 2.9 billion records, including names and Social Security numbers, in a massive data breach.
That hasn't stopped Georgia, though, which is set to set to become the 18th state mandating age checks for porn sites starting in July. Child safety advocates are hopeful more states will follow suit.
Google searches for "free VPN" skyrocket in Florida after porn ban goes live
