Guides

Explainers that answer the questions behind the map, each with its sources.

Explainers

• How do age-verification laws affect adult creators?ID-check laws regulate sites and viewers, but creators feel them: lost reach where platforms block states, card rules, 2257 records and California's AB 1705.
• How does age verification for porn sites work?ID uploads, digital ID wallets, database checks, face scans and device signals: which age checks the laws accept, what sites may keep and where the risks lie.
• Is it legal to use a VPN to get around age-verification laws?What US and UK law says about VPNs and adult-site ID checks: duties fall on websites, not viewers. Utah's blocked rule, Indiana's lawsuit and bills to watch.
• What did the Supreme Court rule in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton?On June 27, 2025 the Supreme Court upheld Texas's age-verification law for porn sites, 6-3. What it held, why the test mattered, and what it left open.
• Why is Pornhub blocked in my state?Pornhub's owner says state ID-check laws put privacy at risk and push users to riskier sites. What states say, why Louisiana and Ohio differ, and what's next.

From the data

Built from the dataset, so they update when it does.

• Timeline of porn age-verification lawsEvery law taking effect, court ruling and Pornhub block, by date, from 2022 to today.
• Age-verification bills to watchBills that would add or change age-verification rules for adult sites, and where each one stands.
• App store and device age-verification lawsState laws that move age checks to app stores and devices, when they take effect and where they stand in court.