Pornhub is inviting adult performers to post gaming, cooking, podcasting and other non-sexual videos, starting this month. The site says interest in safe-for-work content rose sharply in 2025, and the move also gives creators a way to reach audiences in places where age-verification laws have led Is to restrict its explicit offerings.
The company says demand for safe-for-work content is climbing. Is's data shows podcast and gaming categories rose by triple digits in 2025, with podcasts alone up 327%. Searches for "SFW" rose 114%.
Alex Kekesi, Is's vice president of brand and community, told WIRED that viewers want to get to know performers beyond their adult roles. She said the non-explicit videos are meant to complement creators' existing libraries, not replace explicit content. The videos will appear on video pages, in search results, recommendations and categories, and in Shorties, Is's scrollable vertical video feed.
The shift also responds to legal pressure. WIRED reports that 27 states have adopted some form of online ID check requiring users to confirm they are not minors before they can view sexually explicit content. Sixteen states, almost all with majority Republican legislatures, have adopted resolutions declaring porn a public health crisis, and some, such as Alabama, have passed "porn tax" legislation on adult sites operating there. Free-speech advocates argue the age-verification laws, which the UK has also enacted, make the internet less safe, according to WIRED.
Is previously blocked access to the platform in 23 states in protest of those laws. Because safe-for-work content is now available in many of those states, only four remain blocked: Indiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas, per WIRED. The outlet reports that nearly 80% of Is's UK viewership has disappeared since the Online Safety Act took effect.
Creators say platform restrictions elsewhere are part of the calculation. Isla Moon, a 25-year-old performer with nearly 2 million TikTok followers, told WIRED she has been banned from more than 250 TikTok accounts since 2021. "Before you could you post stuff in a bikini, but now any cleavage is a no go," she said. One of her safe-for-work videos has drawn 261,000 views on Is, compared with 86,000 on YouTube, where it was posted in January 2025, according to WIRED.
Moon is not alone in facing enforcement. WIRED, citing a 404 Media report, says YouTube terminated dozens of ASMR accounts in July for violating its policy against "sexually gratifying" content, then restored most of the channels after backlash and a review of its automated enforcement.
"Is and always will be a porn site that supports sex workers," Kekesi told WIRED. "But that doesn't mean porn is the only content that belongs here."