Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, has blocked access to the popular pornography site to Texan users. The move comes in protest of a state age-verification law that was upheld in federal court. Texas becomes the seventh state to lose access to the litany of pornographic services owned by Aylo. Other sites blocked include YouPorn, Brazzers, Digital Playground, and RealityKings. Aylo has chosen to disable the website rather than comply with a highly restrictive and intrusive age verification law.
Furthermore, Texan users trying to access the site will instead find an open letter from Aylo rebuking the law, which was upheld in federal court last week. "Not only does this impinge on the rights of adults to access protected speech, it fails strict scrutiny by employing the least effective and yet also most restrictive means of accomplishing Texas's stated purpose of allegedly protecting minors," the letter reads in part. Furthermore, Alex Kekesi, VP of brand and community at Aylo, called the Texan law "ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous".
TikTok Ban Passes The House
However, Aylo is not the only tech company gearing up for legal battles with the American political system. A bipartisan bill that could see TikTok banned in the United States has passed the US House of Representatives by a vote of 325-65. The Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act would demand that TikTok divest from its Chinese parent company. If the company refused, the app would become unavailable in the United States. The bill was proposed on the basis of protecting the data of American users from the Chinese. However, many opponents have labeled the bill as Sinophobic fearmongering.
While the bill faces an uphill battle in the senate, several American entities are already plotting their next steps. A US group led by former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has announced their intention to mount a bid to buy TikTok. Mnuchin revealed the plan while appearing on CNBC's Squawk Box. Mnuchin, who gained notoriety for his OneWestBank firm during the 2008 recession, was one of the few cabinet secretaries to see out Donald Trump's entire term in office.
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