Pornhub requires ID for users in Louisiana after porn liability law takes effect

Pornhub is requiring people in Louisiana to show ID before watching videos after the state enacted a law requiring porn websites to install "reasonable age verification methods" or risk being held liable for damages.

Louisiana Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards in June signed a law establishing "liability for publishers and distributors of material harmful to minors," effective Jan. 1, 2023.

Any commercial entity that "fails to perform reasonable age verification methods" of people attempting to access adult content "shall be liable to an individual for damages resulting from a minor's accessing the material, including court costs and reasonable attorney fees as ordered by the court," the law states.

People attempting to access Pornhub in Louisiana are now greeted with a page requiring ID verification before watching videos. "Louisiana law now requires us to put in place a process for verifying the age of users who connect to our site from Louisiana," the page states, Vice Media reported.

Pornhub directs viewers to a third-party identification page where users can provide their driver's licenses. The adult website, which says it receives more than 100 million daily visitors, said it does not collect user's data. 

"Pornography is destroying our children and they’re getting unlimited access to it on the internet and so if the pornography companies aren’t going to be responsible, I thought we need to go ahead and hold them accountable," Louisiana State Rep. Laurie Schlegel (R) told local outlet WAFB.

Pornhub did not immediately provide comment.