Arkansas vs. Pornhub [And Why Bill 66 Isn‘t Working]

The state of Arkansas has recently passed Senate Bill 66, which puts into effect age verification on many adult sites.

While the new law doesn’t ban Pornhub from operating in the state, it requires visitors to verify their age through IDs.

As a response, the most-visited adult website in the US no longer accepts IP addresses from Arkansas. Pornhub said that the law that was meant to protect minors actually exposes user data.

The block also applies to other sites operated by the same company, MindGeek, such as RedTube.

Having a population of about 3 million, Arkansas has now added a significant number of people who don’t have access to the popular adult site.

So, how did Arkansans react to this change?

Let’s look at the numbers.

VPN usage spikes because of the Arkansas porn ban

Many porn fans in Arkansas still wanted to access the website but were unable to do so.

Looking to bypass the Arkansas porn ban, a large number of them turned to VPNs for help. Changing their location to another state allows them to visit Pornhub without providing any personal information.

This is best reflected in the way Google searches for virtual private networks have increased since the state passed SB 66.

Here are some of the search queries that are currently at peak popularity in Arkansas and how much they’ve increased:

• Free vpn for android (+300%)
• Speed test (+160%)
• What is my ip (+140%)
• VPN meaning (+130%)
• Nordvpn (+90%)
• Expressvpn (+90%)
• Free vpn (+90%)

Seeing that Pornhub is blocked, users also searched for what is my ip address and private internet access.

The numbers show that people in Arkansas weren’t only using VPNs, but also made sure they get stable connections without IP address leaks.

We witnessed a similar surge of VPN searches on Google in Louisiana after the authorities passed Act 440 and Pornhub was banned to anyone who doesn’t provide an ID.

The website then reported its daily traffic in the state went down by 80%.

MindGeek has previously blocked IP addresses from Utah, Virginia, and Mississippi.

With Pornhub blocked in Arkansas, alternatives are on the rise

After the website stopped offering its services, many users turned to Google to find alternatives.

The following queries surged after Pornhub got banned in Arkansas:

• Porn sites (+1,250%)
• Free porn (+900%)
• Youporn (+900%)
• Freeporn (+500%)
• Youjizz (+250%)
• Xxnx (+250%)

Searches for porn websites, xxvideos, xxxporn, and best porn sites also exploded.

People were also interested in what exactly happened and whether accessing Pornhub is still possible. They searched for:

• Pornhub account (+1,950%)
• Pornhub in arkansas (+1,300%)

Arkansans have previously spent more time on the website than the national daily average of 9 minutes and 44 seconds, with an average visiting time of 10 minutes and 40 seconds prior to the block.

Many of them didn’t know that Pornhub being blocked in Arkansas also means they can’t access RedTube. Google searches for this adult website have recently increased by 1,650%.

However, those who’ve visited it found the same message they got on the Pornhub website.

Summary

Many people on the internet are wondering: Did Arkansas ban Pornhub?

Technically, the answer is no.

However, after the Senate passed a new bill that requires age verification on adult sites, Pornhub blocked access from the entire state.

Like in a few other states, MindGeek didn’t want to introduce this change and chose to cease its operations in Arkansas entirely.

Its stance is that this system isn’t an effective solution for protecting its visitors and only causes more harm.

---