Google search trends show how Texans reacted to a law requiring porn sites to verify a user's age, which led to Pornhub banning the state's visitors.
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Porn sites are banning Texas. Here's what Texans are Googling in response
If the people around you seem a little more tense, here's why.
By
Warren Brown
March 23, 2024
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I'm calling it now — this is going to be the year of cold showers in Texas. Pornhub may have been the first, or at least the most high profile,
adult website to ban Texas users but others are following suit.
As of this week, porn site xHamster blocked Texas users while Chaturbate, a cam site, has added a system requiring users to provide a driver's license to access the site. All that after Lone Star Attorney General
Ken Paxton slapped the parent companies of these sites with lawsuits seeking massive fines.
Spankbang.com went the same route as Chaturbate in what appears to be a growing trend. At this rate, convenient access to porn may soon be a fond memory for millions of residents.
So, if the people around you at work, home, or in the streets seem a little more tense — and maybe you're that person — you can thank Paxton for that, at least in part.
But one thing the whole debacle has provided a reminder of is just how horny the Lone Star State is. The amount of search traffic related to these sites going incognito and for virtual private network (VPN) services to circumvent the bans has been awe inspiring.
Looking at Google's search traffic after Pornhub's block went into effect provided a chuckle when the notoriously religious and conservative East Texas ranked top in Texas for searches of "how to access Pornhub."
But the topic deserves a deeper dive, so let's look at what parts of Texas are hardest hit by the bans. And to clear the air, there's no judgement here on these searches from my fellow Texans, just some context of how our state has reacted to the enforcement of a law passed by the conservative majority in the state capitol.
Texas' top searches after Pornhub's ban
For these thirsty search terms, we'll look at Thursday, March 14, through Friday, March 22. That's the time frame from when Pornhub's ban went into effect through the time this story was written. Google's data may get updates over time.
One of the top searches for that time period — up 3,500% — was "
how to watch porn in Texas?" Lubbock scored highest and the East Texas region of Tyler-Longview and Lufkin Nacogdoches searched for the term second most. Corpus Christ came third, followed by the region encompassing Waco, Temple, and Bryan at No. 4. The top five was rounded out by Austin and San Antonio finished No. 7.
The top search term for VPNs in Texas was "
free VPN." The search traffic for this is a close race near the top, but Austin ranked No. 1, followed by Waco, Temple, and Bryan at No. 2; Lubbock at No. 3; DFW at No. 4; and Wichita Falls and Lawton, Oklahoma, at No. 5. San Antonio fell to No. 8 for this search.
Another popular search term is "Pornhub alternatives." Abilene and Sweetwater make an appearance as the area searching the most for this,
by a healthy margin. Austin landed spot No. 2; Corpus Christi was No. 3; Amarillo was No. 4; and the East Texas region appears again at No. 5. San Antonio followed closely at No. 6.
Other "breakout" search terms, which means they were up 5,000% or more, include: How to access Pornhub in Texas; VPN; Pornhub VPN; Pornhub access; porn websites; and top porn sites. The list goes on and on with untold numbers of Texans scrambling to find ways to stimulate their visual cortex before they stimulate other things.
The law causing all this was passed by Texas' conservative House, Senate, and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and requires sites serving pornography to verify the age of visitors before letting them access the content.
The existing system of "click here if you're over 18" doesn't stand up any longer under the law which just recently went into effect after a temporary stay was defeated in court. For a more in-depth look, or if you're wondering why people are resorting to VPNs,
here's some suggested MySA reading.
white population boom incoming
