Roku Will Effectively Ban Pornhub And Other Adult Channels Beginning in 2022

Bad news for porn watchers with Roku players: The company will essentially ban channels from Pornhub, Wicked, and similar “non-certified” private channels starting March 1, 2022 (the method through which users have traditionally been able to access porn).

Starting next March, Roku will limit unlicensed channels to a maximum of 20 users. The company will also rebrand unlicensed channels as “beta channels,” allowing companies to beta test content that could eventually land in the Roku store.

Roku has previously faced criticism for its lack of oversight when it comes to unlicensed channels — PornHub, for instance, has a page dedicated to installing its channel on Roku devices. In 2017, a Mexican court even halted sales of Roku devices over concerns about hackers using them to pirate content (although Roku later managed to overturn the suspension).

The company has also been criticized for allowing the spread of misinformation, leading it to pull InfoWars’ unofficial channel after just one day in 2019. At the time, Roku released a statement saying that while it does not curate or censor based on viewpoint, “we have policies that prohibit the publication of content that is unlawful, incites illegal activities, or violates third-party rights.”

At the time of publication, Roku has not commented publicly about its effective suspension of porn channels.