Pornhub parent company Aylo will not block access to its websites in Ohio, despite new state age verification rules that came into effect Sept. 30.
On Tuesday, XBIZ mistakenly reported that Aylo would block Ohio, after receiving the same official response the company has provided in instances when it blocked access in other states following the enactment of age verification legislation. XBIZ regrets the error.
"As a provider of an 'interactive computer service' as defined under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, it is our understanding that we are not subject to the obligations under section 1349.10 of the Ohio Revised Code regarding mandated age verification for the 'interactive computer services' we provide, such as Pornhub," Aylo clarified in a statement.
Ohio’s age verification law is somewhat unique among state AV legislation in that it was inserted as a rider into an omnibus budget appropriations bill, HB 96, after several attempts to pass standalone bills failed in the legislature. The budget bill passed in June with the amended age verification wording.
Adult industry attorney and First Amendment expert Corey D. Silverstein called the previous attempts at legislation “stepping stones,” and noted that debates over the strictness of the proposed regulations and potential privacy threats led to their downfall. He speculated that the provision was added to the budget bill with the expectation that it would encounter less resistance.
“The bill on its own was receiving more scrutiny,” he said. “By dumping it into the budget, they had virtually no opposition. Unfortunately, this is very common across all levels of government these days.”