Indiana Sues Porn Sites, Claims VPN Access Violates Age-Verification Law

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is suing dozens of porn websites, claiming that they are in violation of the state's age-verification law and seeking "injunctive relief, civil penalties, and recovery of costs incurred to investigate and maintain the action." It's an insane—and frighteningly dystopian—interpretation of the law.

The Age-Verification Mandate and Platform Response

Last year, Indiana Senate Bill 17 mandated that websites featuring "material harmful to minors" must verify that visitors are age 18 or above. Rather than start checking IDs, Aylo—the parent company of Pornhub and an array of other adult websites—responded by blocking access for Indiana residents. However, Indiana says this is not good enough.

To successfully comply, Pornhub and other Aylo platforms (which include Brazzers, Youporn, and Redtube, among others) must also block virtual private networks and other tools that allow internet users to mask their IP addresses, the state suggests.

Details of the Lawsuit and Investigation

In a section of the suit detailing how Aylo allegedly violated the age-check law, Indiana notes that last July, "an investigator employed by the Office of the Indiana Attorney General ('OAG Investigator') accessed Pornhub.com from Indiana using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) with a Chicago, Illinois IP address." The suit states that "Defendants have not implemented any reasonable form of age verification on its website Pornhub.com."

The state argues that because some Indiana residents could use tools to get around location-based blocks, location-based blocks "are insufficient to comply with Indiana's Age Verification Law." The logical conclusion from this is that if a porn platform doesn't want to check IDs or to stop existing, it must then stop anyone from using a VPN.

Summary of Websites Accessed via VPN in the Investigation:

• Pornhub.com: Accessed using a Chicago, Illinois IP address.
• Brazzers.com: Accessed by investigators using a VPN.
• Faketaxi.com: Noted in the suit as accessible via VPN.
• Spicevids.com: Included in the list of adult websites accessed during the investigation.

Broad Anti-Privacy Logic and Its Consequences

This is the sort of logic that won't stop with porn platforms, of course. Increasingly, states are trying to require social media platforms, app stores, and other web services to verify users' ages. Indiana's logic could be used to justify sanctioning all sorts of apps and services for failing to block VPNs and other anonymity-aiding tools. Sure, you might prevent a few more teens from seeing boobs or watching TikTok videos, but at the cost of massively impeding privacy for people of all ages.

VPNs are also used by people whose employers require them in order to access work email and websites, college students and faculty who may need them to access school websites, and others. The logic of Indiana's lawsuit also justifies action against privacy measures of all sorts.

Legal Accusations and Expert Reaction

The Rokita lawsuit accuses Aylo and its affiliate companies of violating not just the Indiana age-verification law (Senate Bill 17) but also its Deceptive Consumer Sales Act. "Defendants' misrepresentations regarding the extent to which Indiana residents, including Indiana minors, could continue to access adult oriented websites after passage of Indiana's Age Verification Law were unfair, abusive, and deceptive," the suit claims. David Greene of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called this "quite ridiculous.”