US Porn Laws 2025: Which States Require ID — and What You Can Do About It

If you’re in the US and visit adult websites, you’ve probably noticed more of them asking for ID. That’s not a glitch — it’s the law in more and more states.

As of August 2025, 24 states have laws requiring porn sites to verify visitors are over 18. Some sites are blocking users entirely, others are rolling out ID checks, and a few are redirecting traffic.

The US Supreme Court upheld Texas’s law in June 2025, making it more likely other states will follow. And enforcement is picking up — Florida’s Attorney General sued five major sites in August for failing to comply.

📊 US Porn Age Gate TL;DR

📈 By the Numbers (August 2025)

• 24 states have active porn age verification laws
• Covers roughly 57% of the US population
• 6+ states have pending bills in committee
• Growth: 5 states in mid-2023 → 24 in mid-2025

🧾 What Are These New Laws?

Most laws say that if a website contains porn — and more than one-third of its content is adult — it must verify your age before giving access.

How that happens varies:

• Upload a government ID
• Use a digital ID app like Yoti or VerifyMyAge
• Third-party check against public records
• AI facial age estimation in some states
• Credit card verification (rare now)

Failure to comply can mean:

• Lawsuits from individual users
• State attorney general enforcement
• Civil fines — sometimes $10,000 per day
• Blocking by ISPs within that state

Some states (e.g., Kentucky, Florida) require sites to delete your personal data after verification.

📍 Which States Are Involved?

24 states have passed laws — many in effect, some just starting, and a few pending later this year.

| Arizona | HB 2112 | Sep 25 2025 |

📅 States Considering Laws

Several states are actively debating similar legislation.

(Tracking via NCSL Pornography Age Verification Database)

🔐 How Do These Checks Work?

Every state has slightly different rules, but most laws allow (or require):

• Upload a government ID (like a driver’s license)
• Use a digital ID app (like Yoti or VerifyMyAge)
• Third-party age check (based on public records like employment or mortgage data)
• Facial age estimation using AI (used in a few states)
• Credit card check (less common now)

Some states — like Kentucky and Florida — also make websites delete your data after verifying.

🤔 Is This Federal?

Nope — not yet. There’s no national law for porn site age checks in the US. Until there is, states will keep experimenting — much like the UK did before its national rollout. Our UK Porn Law 2025 guide breaks down how that unfolded and what lessons the US might take.

It’s all happening at the state level.

That means:

• Sites have to figure out where you’re visiting from
• Laws can vary a lot depending on your ZIP code
• Some sites might just block entire states to avoid the legal risk

📉 Are Sites Actually Complying?

Some are. Some aren’t. And others are just blocking traffic from places like Utah or Mississippi rather than deal with the hassle.

Big players like Pornhub have already pulled out of certain states — and unless federal rules arrive, we’ll probably see more patchy access like this.

🏢 How Sites Are Responding

• Pornhub: Blocked access entirely in Utah, Mississippi, Virginia, and others
• YouPorn & Redtube: Followed Pornhub’s blocking strategy in restricted states
• XVideos: Implemented third-party age verification in Louisiana & Virginia
• ManyVids: Using Yoti ID in compliance states

🌍 How the US Compares Globally

Similar laws are already in place in other countries, like the UK’s 2025 age verification rules, which sparked debates over privacy, censorship, and compliance — issues now emerging in the US. France has taken a more nuanced approach to privacy requiring that a “double anonymity” solution form part of the sites age gates.

Supporters say these laws

• Keeps explicit material out of reach of minors
• Holds large porn platforms accountable for hosted content
• Gives parents more control over online environments
• Brings online rules in line with offline age restrictions for explicit media

🗣 Criticism and Concerns

Not everyone is on board with these laws. Critics — including civil liberties groups, the adult entertainment industry, and online privacy advocates — argue that age verification laws often go too far and may have unintended consequences.

Take Arizona’s HB 2112 as an example. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Nick Kupper, cited Texas’s law as inspiration, calling it a way to force adult sites to “take responsibility and keep minors off their platforms.” But lobbyists for the adult industry and the ACLU say the bill’s language is so broad it could:

• Sweep in non-pornographic content, including sexual health education, HIV/AIDS resources, or LGBTQ-focused websites.
• Drive users to “black market” sites hosted outside the U.S., where harmful or illegal content could be more prevalent.
• Fail to meaningfully block minors, while creating significant privacy and data security risks for adults.
• Be weaponized to restrict access to constitutionally protected speech and information.

Advocates like the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children have instead suggested device-level age verification solutions as a less invasive alternative.

Some states with age-verification laws have seen VPN usage skyrocket, along with increased traffic to more illicit platforms, as legitimate sites block traffic from those states to avoid legal exposure.

Supporters of HB 2112 dismiss these concerns, saying determined even minors are unlikely to bypass the system, while opponents argue history suggests otherwise.

These issues aren’t unique to the US — they mirror the wider risks of age verification laws seen globally, where privacy, security, and freedom of information are at stake.

Pros and Cons

It’s hard not to have an opinion on these laws, at Anonymous VPNs while we largely support the intention, the issue is simply to important to privacy for the current implimentations to be viable. We’ve assembled a list of Pros and Cons for your consideration

ID Upload

• ✅ Simple for sites to implement
• ❌ High privacy risk if database is breached

Digital ID App (Yoti, VerifyMyAge)

• ✅ Convenient for repeat logins
• ❌ Relies on third-party trust

Third-Party Public Record Check

• ✅ No photo storage
• ❌ May expose other personal details

AI Facial Age Estimation

• ✅ Instant, no ID card needed
• ❌ Accuracy concerns; can misclassify

Credit Card Verification

• ✅ Established infrastructure
• ❌ Less common; not everyone has one

😬 What If You Don’t Want to Share Your Info?

You’re not alone. A lot of people aren’t comfortable handing over ID to access a porn site. That’s why more users are turning to tools that help them stay private.

✅ VPNs

A VPN changes your location online. If the site thinks you’re outside a restricted state, it might not ask for ID at all.

• Hides your real IP address
• Encrypts your data
• Lets you skip state-based blocks
• Completely legal in the US

🧅 Tor Browser

Tor routes your traffic through several layers for privacy. It’s slower than a VPN, but it’s free and doesn’t need installation. And no despite what you might have heard the Tor network is not actually compromised.

🌐 Proxies

A basic workaround — not as secure as VPNs, but still used for quick access. Be careful though — some proxies track users or inject ads.

💬 Final Word

Whether you agree with these laws or not, they’re here — and more are coming.

For adults who want to keep their privacy, it’s not about hiding anything — it’s about not handing over sensitive documents just to watch something online.

Tools like VPNs give you control over what you share and who you share it with. And right now, that kind of control matters more than ever.

⚠️ This article is for information only. It’s not legal advice — just a plain-English guide to what’s changing and what your options are.