Age verification laws for adult websites have led to a dramatic surge in VPN usage across the United States, research from vpnMentor’s Cybersecurity and Research Lab has revealed. The research brings into question the efficacy of these laws as users find ways to circumvent age verification mechanisms and blocked IP addresses.
Users Circumvent Age Verification
In early 2024, 19 US states enacted age verification laws. However, Pornhub, one of the world’s largest pornography websites, only enforced age verification in Louisiana. For the other states, the site merely implemented IP-blocking, meaning that, in effect, the site is inaccessible for users in these jurisdictions.
Despite a loss of 15 million U.S. visitors due to these measures, Pornhub reported a global increase of over 150 million visits by late 2024. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mexico is a significant traffic source, contributing 39 million visits in December alone.
What’s more, VPN usage in states like Florida (1,150%), Oklahoma (1,060%), Utah (967%), and Alabama (542%) saw significant increases. These findings suggest that American users are leveraging VPNs to access blocked pornography sites.
VPNs mask users’ real IP addresses by routing their internet traffic through secure servers in other regions. This allows users to bypass geographical restrictions, access blocked content, and avoid censorship.
VPN’s Pose Cybersecurity Risks
According to vpnMentor, the growing reliance on VPNs, while effective for accessing restricted content, raises serious concerns about data security and privacy. Many users gravitate toward free or unreliable VPN services, often lacking robust security measures.
Past incidents caught by vpnMentor highlight the inherent risks of VPN usage: leaked records from VPNs that claim to log no customer data have exposed sensitive information, including email addresses, passwords, and even geolocation details, leading to identity theft, financial fraud, and other cybersecurity threats.
To mitigate these risks, vpnMentor advises that users only use reputable VPN providers, prioritizing those that offer strong encryption protocols, a strict no-logs policy, a kill switch mechanism, and DNS leak protection.
Josh is a Content writer at Bora. He graduated with a degree in Journalism in 2021 and has a background in cybersecurity PR. He's written on a wide range of topics, from AI to Zero Trust, and is particularly interested in the impacts of cybersecurity on the wider economy.
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