Nebraska Governor Cheers 'Porn Trafficker' Pornhub's Geo-Block

LINCOLN, Neb.—Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, a Republican, published a statement on Thursday lauding the news that Montreal-based Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub.com, is geo-blocking local IP addresses in July. The block comes before a new age verification statute goes into effect requiring all adult platforms operating in Nebraska's digital space to verify the age of all users to ensure they are at least 18 years old or older. The law enters force July 15. “To the news that one of the world’s busiest porn traffickers will shut down in Nebraska, I say: ‘good riddance,'" Pillen said in the statement. Earlier this year, Pillen signed into law Legislative Bill (LB) 1092, which was introduced by state Sen. Dave Murman. AVN has reported extensively on Sen. Murman's efforts to implement age verification requirements and push the new law through the supposedly nonpartisan Unicameral state legislature. Gov. Pillen added, "This is a great development for the protection of our kids, culture, and values. Our kids already face too many threats from big tech and the obscene content industry. Having one fewer outlet trying to sexualize their childhood is a good thing for their futures and a good thing for Nebraska." He characterizes LB 1092, officially the Online Age Verification Liability Act, as a new "anti-obscenity" measure to counter "obscene content." Aylo announced through the Pornhub blog that Nebraska will be geo-blocked in July, alongside four other states with new age verification laws entering force throughout the month. LB 1092 is what adult entertainment industry activists have characterized as a Louisiana "copycat" age verification law, alluding to Louisiana having been the very first state in the United States to implement some form of mandatory age verification. Like these laws in other states, the bill explicitly calls for so-called "reasonable" age verification measures, including government-issued documentation and publicly available transactional data. AVN also reported on Pornhub's intention to block Nebraska IP addresses. The geo-block would apply to all web properties owned and operated by Aylo. It is worth noting that Aylo is a party to several lawsuits in other states, including a pending case challenging an age verification statute in Texas that is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. Other parties in the case before the Supreme Court include the parent companies of other major adult platforms and adult industry trade group the Free Speech Coalition.