VPN Demand Surges Post Adult Site Restriction on Texas-Based Users

VPN demand in Texas skyrocketed by 234.8% on March 15, 2024, after state authorities enacted a law requiring adult sites to verify users’ ages before granting them access to the websites’ content.

Texas’ age verification law was passed in June 2023 and was set to take effect in September of the same year. However, a day before its implementation, a US district judge temporarily blocked enforcement after a lawsuit filed by the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) deemed the policy unconstitutional per the First Amendment.

On March 14, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit decreed that Texas could proceed with the law’s enactment.

As a sign of protest, Pornhub, the most visited adult site in the US, blocked IP addresses from Texas — the eighth state to suffer such a ban after their respective governments enforced similar restrictions on adult sites.

VPN Demand Surge in Texas

Following the law’s enactment, users in Texas seem to be scrambling for means to access the affected adult sites. vpnMentor’s research team analyzed user demand data and found a 234.8% increase in VPN demand in the state.

The graph below shows the VPN demand in Texas from March 1 to March 16.

Past VPN Demand Growths from Adult Site Restrictions

Pornhub has previously blocked IP addresses from Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, and Montana — all of which have enforced age-verification laws that the adult site deemed unjust.

In May 2023, Pornhub’s banning of Utah-based users caused a 967% spike in VPN demand in the state. That same year, the passing of adult-site-related age restriction laws in Louisiana and Mississippi led to a 200% and 72% surge in VPN interest, respectively.

vpnMentor neither encourages nor condones using VPNs for illegal activities, such as bypassing laws or regulations.