Multiple Popular Adult Websites Blocked Across All of Montana

It appears that Montana has made another step towards regulating what we can and cannot view on the internet. While the state continues to have a legal battle over the banning of the popular social media app TikTok, it looks like adult websites are now being blocked in Montana.

Earlier this past year Utah passed a bill to require age verification for all users looking to access adult websites.

According to CNN

Pornhub and other adult sites controlled by its parent, MindGeek, began blocking visitors with Utah-based IP addresses this week. Now, instead of seeing adult content when visiting those sites, affected users are shown a message expressing opposition to SB287, the Utah law signed by Gov. Spencer Cox in March that creates liability for porn sites that make their content available to people below the age of 18.

Montana passed a similar law this year, SB 544, and now the adult websites are following the same protocol as they did in Utah. Blocking access to anyone using a Montana IP address to access their websites.

According to the message users receive when attempting to access any of the websites:

As you may know, your elected officials in Montana are requiring us to verify your age before allowing you access to our website. While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users, and in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk. Until a real solution is offered, we have made the difficult decision to completely disable access to our website in Montana.

For some, this may feel like a step back into the dark ages. Days that many of us remember for the extreme lack of adult content. Days when the only adult content we could find was an old magazine stuffed into a tree stump deep in the woods. Or the "forbidden section" of adult content behind the counter at the gas station.

Will Montana help develop a better way to identify users' ages without having to give out ID information? Until that happens, many adult websites will continue to block anyone with a Montana-based IP address from using them.