Searches for VPNs spike in Texas after Pornhub pulls out of the state
Source: CNN Business
Updated 11:57 AM EDT, Fri March 15, 2024
CNN — Searches for virtual private networking (VPN) software briefly spiked in Texas this week after Pornhub suspended service in the state over a law forcing adult websites to verify the age or identities of their users. The four-fold rise in Google searches for tools that can circumvent the state-level blocking suggests the law may already be having unintended side effects, days after a federal appeals court upheld the legislation and said it could remain in effect.
Visitors with Texas IP addresses who visit Pornhub’s website are now presented with a full-page message calling the Texas law “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.”
“Until the real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Texas,” the message reads. “In doing so, we are complying with the law, as we always do, but hope that governments around the world will implement laws that actually protect the safety and security of users.”
Search interest in VPNs began disproportionately rising in Texas Thursday compared to the rest of the country, according to a CNN analysis of Google Trends data — quadrupling in the hours following Pornhub’s announcement before retreating slightly by early Friday morning.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/15/tech/vpn-searches-spike-texas-pornhub/index.html
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Response to durablend (Reply #8)
Those ranchers are going to have to soothe themselves with a long hot communal shower and help each other soap up...
