How to Watch Pornhub Even If It’s Blocked in Your State
The Internet is changing rapidly, and the (rather large) portion of it devoted to adult entertainment is no exception. Porn sites in a growing number of US states are now required to verify that their users are adults by requiring them to provide government-issued identification or some other suitable method of verifying their identity. Clearly, this isn’t necessarily something everyone wants to do every time they visit an adult site.
In response, Pornhub, as well as other sites from its parent company Aylo, have shut down in many of these states in protest. As such, many users in these states are now looking for the best VPNs (virtual private networks) to install on their devices so they can still access the site.
As of early June 2025, 19 states have implemented such age verification requirements: Louisiana, Utah, Mississippi, Virginia, Arkansas, Texas, Montana, North Carolina, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Indiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Missouri.
Five more states will join the club in the coming weeks and months, including Georgia, Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Arizona. Bills are also pending in 16 more states: Oregon, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, and Maryland. In addition to state-level legislation, the federal SCREEN Act (2025) could enact nationwide measures if it passes.
It’s a changing landscape as laws are proposed and challenged in every state, and the best resources I’ve found for staying up to date are the Association of Age Verification Service Providers (which advocates for age verification measures) and the Free Speech Coalition (which opposes them). On one side, there’s the argument that kids need to be protected from adult content online, and on the other, there’s the argument that kids will find porn anyway — perhaps through sites that have fewer safeguards and policies around adult content than Pornhub.
Louisiana Exception
Pornhub owner Aylo’s problem with all this legislation is that age verification systems are ineffective and an invasion of privacy for those 18 and older. Instead, the company is calling for device-level age verification of users, such as through app stores operated by Apple and Google. Texas lawmakers have already passed a law requiring app stores to verify age before users can download any apps , not just those with age restrictions.
Louisiana stands out as the only state where Aylo sites, including Pornhub, partner with an age verification system to ensure adult content is available to users. This system is known as LA Wallet, a digital driver’s license app that is already active in Louisiana and provides reliable identity verification. One of the reasons Aylo has kept Pornhub open for business in Louisiana is that LA Wallet can operate anonymously: It’s a bit like using a two-factor authentication code. With this mechanism, Pornhub doesn’t know who you are, but it does know that you’ve been verified as an adult through LA Wallet.
For now, other states are lagging behind in implementing similar technologies. They either don’t have digital ID systems like LA Wallet, or they have systems that aren’t as easy to use for this purpose or aren’t as respectful of user privacy. And so the battle continues: both state governments and Aylo want users to verify their age to access Pornhub, they just want to do it in different ways.
How to Watch Pornhub If It’s Blocked in Your State
Regardless of your stance on age verification laws, remember that the best VPNs can connect your computer to a server on the other side of the world, making it appear as if you’re somewhere other than where you actually are. So wherever you are, if you want to access blocked porn sites, a VPN is your new best friend.
But that’s just the beginning when it comes to the benefits of installing a VPN . These software tools hide your browsing activity from governments, law enforcement, and anyone who provides your internet connection. VPNs generally make it harder for companies to track you and give you greater security and privacy (though not complete anonymity) online.
With that in mind, Lifehacker has already covered the best free VPNs , best paid VPNs , and best free VPNs for Android , but I wanted to highlight a couple of recommendations here – if you’re looking for more suggestions for your online needs (adult-related or not), check out the links above.
Best Free VPN: Proton VPN
We’ve written raves about how great Proton VPN is for free, and it’s a great choice if you don’t want to spend anything. Its appeal starts with Proton itself: it’s committed to privacy, was created by scientists in Switzerland, and is separate from the big tech names (like Google, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft). It’s a name you can trust.
There are also surprisingly few limitations for a free VPN. The two main limitations are that you can only connect from one device, and you can’t choose which country’s servers you connect to. That’s it – it’s not painfully slow like many free VPNs. If you want more flexibility in your VPN connections and features, paid upgrades are also available.
Add to that Proton VPN’s ease of use, support for a wide range of devices, and the reliability you get from servers all over the world, and it’s hard to beat a free VPN. Sign up here for a Proton account if you don’t already have one.
Best Paid VPN: NordVPN
You have a lot of great options to choose from when it comes to paid VPNs, and there’s no app that’s far superior to the others, but we’re going to highlight NordVPN, which we recently compared to ExpressVPN . It’s fast, flexible, and the software it offers across multiple platforms is more polished and intuitive than many of its competitors.
You get a lot of features with NordVPN, from split tunneling to DNS settings and support for the Onion Super Private Network. While you can easily use the software with just a few clicks (or taps), there are plenty of extra features available if you want to dig a little deeper – you can even have a dedicated IP address (though that costs extra).
NordVPN prices start at $12.99 per month, but you can get some pretty big discounts if you pay for a year (or two years) up front. That’s enough to get up to six simultaneous connections, and you can sign up here to sign up and download the apps.