Video above from earlier protection: Grownup group seeks to dam Florida age verification legislation
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida leads the nation in Google searches for VPNs, or digital personal networks, because the begin of the brand new 12 months when an age verification legislation went into impact.
The legislation requires any websites with grownup content material to confirm an individual’s age to forestall kids from accessing them. Critics say forcing adults to add their ID to entry a web site is a violation of privacy and free speech, whereas supporters of the legislation say it is necessary to guard kids.
Because of the brand new legislation, Pornhub blocked access to these making an attempt to entry the positioning in Florida, as a result of it believes there are higher methods to implement age verification.
Between Jan. 1 and Thursday, Florida was the state the place essentially the most searches for “vpn” originated, based on Google Tendencies knowledge.
Searches remained regular via most of 2024, however elevated in late December and initially of 2025 when the brand new legislation went into impact.
A VPN is a service that permits customers to encrypt their knowledge and routes their connection via a non-public sever in one other location.
Grownup leisure teams have challenged Florida’s legislation, and comparable legal guidelines have been handed in different states. Earlier this week, a courtroom allowed a similar law in Tennessee to enter impact, and a Texas legislation was argued in entrance of the U.S. Supreme Court.
