We’ve been watching the evolving legal landscape, and things are changing fast. So far, 19 US states have passed age verification laws. In Louisiana, Pornhub is asking for age verification, while they’re simply blocking visitors from other states with age verification. And it’s not just the US: soon, similar age verification laws will be enacted in France and the UK.
These upcoming laws could mean that soon you might be asked to prove you’re 18+ in various ways. A quick age check (just entering your birthdate) isn’t robust enough to meet the new standards. It seems the industry is moving toward more secure methods, such as full ID verification or digital ID verification, using secure apps.
Our Dilemma: Age Verification Or Not
The new laws are creating a huge challenge for us. They vary widely from state to state and country to country, and there’s a lot of uncertainty about what regulators might do. They could choose not to enforce the rules, or they might turn up the heat with heavy consequences —like site blocks, search engine penalties, or hefty fines.
In the UK, for example, the regulator has already made it clear that pornography services must introduce age checks by July 2025 at the latest—this includes major sites like X and Reddit. Similar robust measures are on the horizon in France and many U.S. states. How will these sites respond, and what will regulators do?
This situation puts us in a real bind. On the one hand, if we implement robust age verification (for instance, in the UK), we will probably lose many of our visitors while also incurring costs that might outweigh revenue from the remaining visitors. Age verification methods are expensive, and forcing our community through a heavy process will likely destroy the community we’ve built. On the other hand, we could choose to block an entire country or region entirely—a technically cheap and straightforward solution that would kill off traffic from that area. Of course, some users might still find a workaround by using a VPN. Finally, we could wait and watch how the industry responds, exposing us to potential legal actions if regulators decide to crack down unexpectedly.
We Want Your Input
We’re trying to decide how to proceed:
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Do we implement a robust age verification process and risk a dramatic drop in traffic and increased costs?
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Or do we block certain states or countries, accepting that we might lose a significant part of our audience?
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Or do we wait as long as possible to see what the big players do?
Your opinion is very important in helping us navigate this dilemma. Please take a moment to answer a few questions in our poll:
We’re considering all our options—from implementing robust age verification systems to potentially geo-blocking certain countries. Your feedback will help us to make the best decision. Feel free to drop your questions or feedback in the comments.
Truthfully, I am in support of laws like this and I know what comes with it. I like NSFW content. But, if a small sacrifice must be made like age verification then so be it. As long as it’s reasonable like inputting date of birth or something.
Although I would verify using Driving Licence ,Passport etc, I would NOT verify using credit card. Imlke the site, but not that much I would give random strangers my CC details.
The age verification you have now is enough for most users. You do need to make sure the bots stay off the site.