I think this is kind of a big deal. Not since the web comic “electric retard” being banned in Germany have I heard of something like this happening, nonetheless in the United States.
I am probably missing a joke but Pornhub is not banned. A few states have made a law requiring arguably onerous age verifications and Pornhub voluntarily stopped doing business there.
But how can you prove it’s not banned?
I’m not following you
This one time, at banned camp . . .
When they pry it from my…
I don’t live in Texas ! I don’t know what to do !
Maybe I’m missing something, but isn’t PornHub itself doing the blocking as a protest, not Texas somehow blocking PornHub traffic as it seems some of the replies here are implying? Plus there’s like a million other websites with adult content for Texans to access, aren’t there?
This does not seem to be true. I was late to find out about this, since I don’t really watch porn. But when I did find out this had affected Arkansas, I went ahead and tried multiple sites, and they had the same block.
As far as I can tell, there are two outcomes to this law: there are the companies that shut off access, and the (usually sketchier) sites not in the US who can’t really be punished by these laws and thus did nothing. Nether fit the stated objectives of these laws.
And, while it is a sort of protest, my understanding is that it’s actually cheaper and less risky for US companies to shut off access entirely rather than follow these laws. They are that poorly designed for their stated purpose. Safely retrieving and handling IDs from people is not an easy task.
This isn’t surprising. These are culture war laws. Their narrative is “think of the children,” framing it as making the Internet safer for kids. Those generally aren’t about the results, but about the performative morality.
Pornhub is right about this: the better way to handle this is at a device level. Parental controls exist. And they are more effective than just going after US-based porn sites. Sure, maybe kids figure out how to disable the blocks. But those same kids can fire up a VPN or otherwise get around the laws.
But device controls don’t have the privacy or security issues. They don’t need you to send your ID in to a sketchy site, or have some sort of central registry of those adults who view porn.
I find it bizarre that people are blaming PornHub for their actions here. There’s a reason this is a red state law.
Texas—along with a few other states—have passed laws that effectively force this sort of ban, by passing laws that would punish these companies if they do not implement a system to verify IDs to prove their users are over 18. This is not an easy task to do safely, and seemingly cost prohibitive.
The other sites are simply not complying with the law, usually because they are not US-based and thus the laws can’t really affect them. And those non-US sites tend to be sketchier and thus actually less safe for kids and adults alike.
The laws are clearly ineffectual at their stated goal of preventing kids from stumbling upon porn online, while having huge security and privacy issues if they are implemented.
Your research for the cause is appreciated. 
Pornhub is restricting access to its content in several states, it is not banned by those states .
Those states have enacted laws that Ph is reacting to by restricting their own content.
The title of the news article the OP links to says “Pornhub disables website’ and the OP title is “you can’t watch porn in Texas” . In the article it says “ Pornhub restricts their content in some states. No ban by Texas is hinted at or mentioned
Quite a few people here have also clarified “ it is not a state ban”
Anyway around the content restriction is simply sidestepping pornhubs self imposed restrictions not breaking any state laws.
That certainly doesn’t take away from the Texas AG and many in the state legislature being massive arseholes or problems with the legislation itself.
Fair point there is a level at which the restrictions through the law to the company become so onerous that it effectively becomes a ban.
Weirdly enough, it really was “because of the cause.” I’ve stopped watching porn in general for personal reasons. But I stumbled on a link on Google when searching for something else. The title was ridiculous, and I was just too curious not to click, only to get the message. I then looked up and found out about the law.
And then I did indeed try other sites to see if they were doing the same thing, or to see how they they might actually implement the ID laws.
It has to be intentional. Out right banning porn would be unconstitutional. Making it very difficult for porn companies to operate is legal.
Yes and reflecting on the points above , to all intents and purposes it is a ban, although I’d personally not say it was a ban as that muddies the waters when describing who did what and where.
Blisters?
It’s a joke. BigT lobbed his pitch and I couldn’t resist.
I’m torn between this explanation and it being culture-war red meat. It’s not like it actually stops porn—just the US companies.
Though, as the Internet loves to say “¿Por qué no los dos?”
@kayaker: I can’t seem to stop setting them up for you, huh?
Change “can’t” to “cain’t” and this sounds like a lyric from the next Oliver Anthony song.
Hehe, have a great weekend, dude! Cheers.