Picture this: you wake up, grab coffee, open your inbox and there’s a fucking cease-and-desist from the Florida Attorney General. Your tube site, your clip store, your affiliate links – all named. That’s the reality hitting the adult industry right now, and it’s only getting worse.
Florida didn’t just pass another toothless age verification law. They passed HB 3 and then weaponized it like nobody else. Since January 1, 2025, AG James Uthmeier has been suing the living shit out of every major porn platform doing business in the state – and he’s not stopping at the operators.
Florida’s Age Verification Law is a Full-On War on Porn Traffic
This isn’t Texas-style posturing. Florida is going straight for the jugular: the money and the infrastructure.
Who’s Getting Dragged into Court? Everyone.
The lawsuits don’t just name Pornhub or whatever big dog you’re thinking of. They’re naming payment processors, CDN partners, affiliate programs – anyone touching Florida traffic that feeds a non-compliant site.
Translation: if your server, your billing company, or your traffic source helps deliver porn to a single unverified Florida IP, you’re potentially on the hook for $50,000 per violation. And the state is claiming tens of thousands of violations per day on big sites.
Do the math. That’s bankruptcy territory faster than you can say “chargeback ratio.”
The Weird “Standard” vs “Anonymous” Verification Split
Like most states, Florida triggers the law when at least one-third of your content is “harmful to minors” – the famous 33.3% rule. But then they went full Florida Man on the details.
Sites have to offer two verification methods:
- “Standard” age verification – any commercially reasonable method (could retain data, no rules).
- “Anonymous” age verification – zero data retention, no sharing, strict privacy.
And here’s the kicker: only U.S.-owned companies can provide the anonymous option. Foreign providers are banned from touching that one.
So yeah, lawmakers basically wrote a law that forces sites to offer a creepy data-hoarding option nobody will pick, while scaring everyone into using U.S. vendors only for the good stuff.
Result? The pool of compliant anonymous AV providers just shrank hard. A lot of the slick overseas solutions you were eyeing? Dead in Florida.
Enforcement is Brutal and It’s Not Slowing Down
The AG’s office is openly bragging about going after “online pornographers preying on children for financial gain.” They want headlines. They want fines. They want sites blocked statewide.
And the money motive is real. If they prove even a fraction of the violations they’re alleging, the state treasury gets a massive payday. This isn’t ideology only – it’s a cash grab with moral cover.
Your Survival Checklist – Do This Yesterday
No sugarcoating: if you have Florida traffic, act now.
- Ditch the “Yes I’m 18” button. Florida explicitly calls that non-compliant bullshit.
- Implement real third-party AV that offers both standard and anonymous paths.
- Switch to U.S.-based anonymous AV providers – play it safe even if you think the law is poorly written.
- Audit every partner. Creators, ask your platforms for proof of Florida compliance. Processors, demand the same from merchants. Cut ties fast if they can’t show it.
- Lawyer up. Get adult-industry counsel (like Silverstein Legal or similar) to review your setup and draft your defense plan.
Florida is making examples. Don’t volunteer to be one.
The writing’s on the wall: comply fully or geo-block the entire state and kiss that traffic goodbye. For a lot of businesses, losing Florida isn’t an option. So get your age verification locked down, pick U.S. providers, and cover your ass before the next wave of lawsuits drops.
Because trust me – they’re coming.
