A new Arizona law requiring age verification for online adult content appears to have a ripple effect across the state. Buckeye is right in the middle of it.
Since House Bill 2112 went into effect Friday, forcing pornography providers to scan government IDs or adopt similar systems, searches for “VPN” have spiked sharply as some users attempt to sidestep the restrictions.
In the first 24 hours after HB 2112’s enforcement, Google Trends data show that “VPN” queries surged to record levels. Arizona now ranks as the No. 1 state in the nation for VPN-related searches, according to Google data. The sudden spike underscores how quickly Arizonans are finding ways to bypass the new age-verification requirements.
City-level Google Trends data show VPN curiosity stretching across communities statewide, like in the Mohave County town of Dolan Springs, which scored a perfect 100. Buckeye’s growing population of more than 118,000 residents saw a 5% increase in VPNs, ranking the city No. 14 for increased VPN searches this week among cities and towns statewide.
The law itself has plenty of critics, many of whom predicted this kind of response.
Darrell Hill, policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said the result may be “exactly the opposite behavior of what lawmakers intended.” Pornhub, one of the world’s largest adult sites, has already blocked Arizona users entirely rather than collect IDs.
As the bill went into effect, bill sponsor Rep. Nick Kupper, R-Surprise, told InBuckeye that the law is a “blanket protection” for children. Supporters argue the restrictions provide accountability for adult content companies.
