Adult site restrictions cut browsing time 10%

Study: Adult site restrictions cut browsing time by 10%

5 reported

A new working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research examines the effects of age verification laws on adult website usage. Since 2023, 25 U.S. states have implemented such laws, causing prominent adult websites, including Pornhub, to restrict local access for all users. The study used individual-level panel data to analyze how these restrictions affected browsing activity. The researchers found that access restrictions reduced overall time spent on adult sites by roughly 10%. For every 100 hours spent on top adult sites before restrictions, about 50 hours remained accessible at noncompliant sites that never restricted access, 30 hours persisted through VPN-based circumvention, 10 hours were substituted from compliant sites to noncompliant sites, and 10 hours were no longer spent on adult sites. The paper was authored by Matthew Brown, Emily J. Davis, and Devin G. Pope.

What’s reported

Since 2023, 25 U.S. states have implemented age verification laws.

The laws caused prominent adult websites, including Pornhub, to restrict local access for all users.

Access restrictions reduced overall time spent on adult sites by roughly 10%.

For every 100 hours spent on top adult sites before restrictions: 50 hours remained at noncompliant sites, 30 hours persisted via VPN, 10 hours were substituted from compliant to noncompliant sites, and 10 hours were no longer spent on adult sites.

The study is a new NBER working paper by Matthew Brown, Emily J. Davis, and Devin G. Pope.