Starting September 30, 2025, Ohio internet users won’t be able to access Pornhub without submitting a photo ID. It remains unclear whether Pornhub will block access to its content in Ohio, though the company has pulled its services in numerous other states that enacted similar age verification laws.
With the requirement of age checks that involve giving up your sensitive data comes concerns for data privacy and, naturally, a surge in VPN usage. Internet users are already looking for the best VPNs as a solution to bypass the new requirements.
The invasive nature of Ohio’s age verification law
Ohio lawmakers included age verification requirements as part of the state budget – House Bill 96, becoming effective September 30. Its goal is to protect minors from viewing, buying, or renting “materials that are obscene or harmful to juveniles.”
The law requires taking reasonable age verification measures to prove visitors are 18+ years old. It includes using a “commercial age verification system that uses photo identification or public or private transactional data.” It can be a photo of the visitor’s government ID, credit card records, mobile carrier info, or other data linked to age.
Although the goal may be noble, it doesn’t come without criticism. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said that such laws are another form of surveillance and carry significant implications on free speech.
“These laws introduce surveillance systems that threaten everyone’s rights to speech and privacy, and introduce more harm than they seek to combat,” they said.
Pornhub also argues that the new age verification methods don’t offer a privacy-oriented solution.
“It also creates a substantial risk for identity theft… it opens the door for the risk of data breaches. Whether or not your intentions are good, governments have historically struggled to secure this data,” the platform wrote.
Will Pornhub pull out of Ohio?
Many US states have already passed similar age verification laws in the past, and Pornhub chose to block access to IP addresses coming from those states altogether. However, the company hasn’t listed Ohio as one of the blocked regions yet.
A similar law went into effect in Arizona just a week ago, September 23, 2025, and Pornhub already banned access to the state’s citizens.
In the past, the adult content platform has seen a significant 80% traffic drop when age verification laws were passed in Louisiana. Its parent company Aylo claimed that the move would only force users to look for more dangerous or less regulated adult content websites.
“These people did not stop looking for porn. They just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age, that don't follow the law, that don't take user safety seriously, and that often don't even moderate content,” the company said in a statement obtained by Fox 10.
Currently, Pornhub is blocked in the following states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
VPNs as workarounds to access porn
Past events have shown that internet users rely on VPNs to bypass age verification laws. Just a week ago, on September 23, Arizona passed a similar age verification law, and Google Trends data showed a spike in “VPN” term searches after the law went into effect.
The same happened after the 25 July 2025 passing of the UK’s Online Safety Act. Proton VPN reported a 1800% surge in VPN downloads.
The Ohio law doesn’t have a clear requirement on how location checking will be performed. However, reviewing internet user IP addresses remains the easiest solution. In such cases, a VPN connected to a server outside of Ohio is likely to bypass age verification systems.
I tried using NordVPN myself to check if age verification can be bypassed. After I connected to a server in Canada, Pornhub did not require any verification that would involve sharing my personal data.
The website returned the traditional age verification method of clicking a button if you’re over 18 or exiting if you’re not.
Considering the privacy and surveillance concerns, VPNs shouldn’t be the ultimate answer. Ohio has become the 24th state to pass age verification laws, despite the continuous public backlash.
According to the Free Speech Coalition, while the aim to protect minors is applaudable, there should be a focus placed on the practical, technical, and legal issues that arise. The law is easy to bypass using VPNs, and its nature further encourages the growth of free and pirated content on social media that’s harmful to minors.