Interesting Canadian petition...

[WheelyFixed]

https://www.blogto.com/tech/2025/03/can ... b-tariffs/

A link that was sent to me by JesusA offline - it is politics of a sort, but seems at least somewhat relevant, though some of us might not have much interest in that sort of site for some reason...

Essentially it is a petition to block US access to the PornHub website which runs out of Canada as a form of retaliation for the recent tariffs...

Particularly interesting is that according to the statistics that PornHub collects about usage, the US is the highest %age of visitors, and the highest use state is UTAH, with the others mostly being the ultra conservative states in the deep south....

The line I found most amusing was

On average, viewers in the U.S. spent 10 minutes and 37 seconds on the site.

This left me wondering if they ended their visit by rolling over and going to sleep...

(I was a bit hesitant to post given the political aspect, but it seems funny enough to risk it...)

WheelyFixed

[NaturalEunuch]

PornHub is already banned in a lot of states, including mine. However, I guess if someone really wanted to access it, they could use a VPN.

Also, there are many alternatives so doesn't seem like such a big deal.

[Evolve]

PornHub is already banned in a lot of states, including mine. However, I guess if someone really wanted to access it, they could use a VPN.

Also, there are many alternatives so doesn't seem like such a big deal.

These state level bans are nothing more than "feel good"/"Look what I did" legislation that get proposed for show. They know full well there's no way to effectively enforce them.

[WheelyFixed]

PornHub is already banned in a lot of states, including mine. However, I guess if someone really wanted to access it, they could use a VPN.

Also, there are many alternatives so doesn't seem like such a big deal.

These state level bans are nothing more than "feel good"/"Look what I did" legislation that get proposed for show. They know full well there's no way to effectively enforce them.

I agree - there isn't really ANY way that a state can effectively ban a site that isn't in their territory - the site can ignore them, and the states don't have the authority to force even ISP's located in their jurisdiction to block a site. AFAIK the most they could do would be order gov't sites like schools and libraries, etc. to add the site to their 'nanny-ware' filtering software (if it wasn't already there anyway...

OTOH the Canadian Gov't at least potentially could tell PornHub to refuse to SERVE requests coming from US domains... (Not sure if their law would actually allow them to do it...)

WheelyFixed

[NaturalEunuch]

Here's what the blocked site looks like for Floridians.

[WheelyFixed]

That sounds like it is something PH is doing voluntarily... I definitely see a not very hidden context of 'blame your politicians, not us" and apply thermal illumination (as in When they FEEL THE HEAT, they "See the Light"...)

Presumably also something that can be handled by logging in w/ a VPN or Tor... (Unless they are checking credit card info, but I'd be willing to bet one could use a pre-paid debit card, crypto, or other more or less anonymous payment method if that was an issue...)

I know one thing I found amusing was the suggestion on FetLife that if you didn't want to put down your real location in answer to that mandatory registration question, you could say you lived on the southernmost continent... As a result if you look at their statistics, there are more kinky people living in Antarctica than in any other country - does this mean the penguins are more nervous than the sheep?

WheelyFixed

[TheRagingEunuch]

"This left me wondering if they ended their visit by rolling over and going to sleep... "

Well, I for one don't plan to lose any sleep over it.

[fhunter]

PornHub is already banned in a lot of states, including mine. However, I guess if someone really wanted to access it, they could use a VPN.

Also, there are many alternatives so doesn't seem like such a big deal.

These state level bans are nothing more than "feel good"/"Look what I did" legislation that get proposed for show. They know full well there's no way to effectively enforce them.

Well, there are. It just costs money. You can look at Russia on how it can be done. Problem is - ISPs wouldn't be happy. Makers of equipment for deep packet inspection on another hand....

PS. "Do not give them ideas"™
PPS. This is going deep into politics, though.

[fusion]

I love how the Canadians are like let's block Porn Hub it will show the US we mean business.

Meanwhile there cousins in Australia are like stop buying American buy Australian.

Now I will be the first to say that not buying Americican is really easy seeing as though most of our imports come from China, Vietnam, and a lot of European countries. But buying Australian means I will need a mortgage just for a grocery shop.

[Nulloguy]

PornHub is already banned in a lot of states, including mine. However, I guess if someone really wanted to access it, they could use a VPN.

Also, there are many alternatives so doesn't seem like such a big deal.

These state level bans are nothing more than "feel good"/"Look what I did" legislation that get proposed for show. They know full well there's no way to effectively enforce them.

Bingo!

There's a reason the adult site I used to run wasn't physically located in the US.

[Nulloguy]

That sounds like it is something PH is doing voluntarily... I definitely see a not very hidden context of 'blame your politicians, not us" and apply thermal illumination (as in When they FEEL THE HEAT, they "See the Light"...)
WheelyFixed

Well, Pornhub certainly didn't write, pass, or sign the legislation into law, did they?

[WheelyFixed]

That sounds like it is something PH is doing voluntarily... I definitely see a not very hidden context of 'blame your politicians, not us" and apply thermal illumination (as in When they FEEL THE HEAT, they "See the Light"...)
WheelyFixed

Well, Pornhub certainly didn't write, pass, or sign the legislation into law, did they?

PornHub didn't write it or pass it... But exactly what could the banning states DO if instead they had simply ignored the ban and kept on doing their normal process? I'm making the presumption that everything they are putting on their site is compliant with laws relating to CSAM and so on, so what obligates them to do ANYTHING in regards to complying with such a ban... However by putting up that block voluntarily they nominally keep the politicians happy while giving them the finger at the same time....

WheelyFixed

[NaturalEunuch]

But exactly what could the banning states DO if instead they had simply ignored the ban and kept on doing their normal process?

If PornHub ignored the situation, each of the 19 states involved could hit PornHub with expensive damage lawsuits and/or issue daily fines for every day PornHub is in non-compliance with state law.

[Friotler7]

https://www.blogto.com/tech/2025/03/can ... b-tariffs/

A link that was sent to me by JesusA offline - it is politics of a sort, but seems at least somewhat relevant, though some of us might not have much interest in that sort of site for some reason...

Essentially it is a petition to block US access to the PornHub website which runs out of Canada as a form of retaliation for the recent tariffs...

Particularly interesting is that according to the statistics that PornHub collects about usage, the US is the highest %age of visitors, and the highest use state is UTAH, with the others mostly being the ultra conservative states in the deep south....

The line I found most amusing was

On average, viewers in the U.S. spent 10 minutes and 37 seconds on the site.

This left me wondering if they ended their visit by rolling over and going to sleep...

(I was a bit hesitant to post given the political aspect, but it seems funny enough to risk it...)

WheelyFixed

The hypocrisy

[Nulloguy]

Well, Pornhub certainly didn't write, pass, or sign the legislation into law, did they?

PornHub didn't write it or pass it... But exactly what could the banning states DO if instead they had simply ignored the ban and kept on doing their normal process? I'm making the presumption that everything they are putting on their site is compliant with laws relating to CSAM and so on, so what obligates them to do ANYTHING in regards to complying with such a ban... However by putting up that block voluntarily they nominally keep the politicians happy while giving them the finger at the same time....

WheelyFixed

It will be interesting to see how a Canadian company can be forced into compliance with US law. Really, the only thing the US could do is put a block on the IP serving the site, which seems contradictory to the US Constitution's 1st amendment prohibition of the government regulating speech, expression, and affiliation.

As others have mentioned, it's quite easy to get past, even if the government does that. I live in a state with such a prohibition and it's quite easy to "Nope" out of it. I can get around it quite easily. Not much the government can do about it, I'm an adult, and I'm free to view whatever I wish so long as the continent isn't harming protected classes.