Toronto man starts petition to block Americans from using Pornhub amid trade war 

In the midst of the trade war between Canada and the U.S., one Toronto man has put out a petition to Pornhub in efforts to leave our southern neighbours high and dry. 

While other Canadians have chosen to take a stand against the U.S. by boycotting travel to America, buying local, and endless other approaches to support homegrown businesses and products, East York resident Marc Olimpo decided to shake things up in a different way. 

The Toronto man is the cheeky jokester behind a petition to block U.S. access to Pornhub, a decision that would affect the site’s largest number of visitors. 

Although the U.S. provides a massive amount of traffic to the adult website, Pornhub is actually owned by Montreal-based pornography conglomerate Aylo (previously known as MindGeek.) Olimpo’s online petition, directed to both Pornhub and Parliament, urges the Canadian federal government to enforce legislation that would restrict the Canadian-owned company’s content from being accessed within the U.S.

“We ask the Canadian Parliament to take this action as a peaceful yet powerful response in this dispute. The livelihoods of many depend on the resolution of this conflict,” the petition reads, which was launched on Mar. 7. 

“This potential ban could send a strong message and provoke introspection of the current tariff measures in place,” Olimpo added, citing that American users constitute nearly 40 per cent of Pornhub’s traffic.

Americans made up the highest number of Pornhub visitors in 2024, where on average, viewers spent 10 minutes and 37 seconds on the site, according to its Year in Review report.

Currently, Pornhub is already blocked in 17 U.S. states due to age verification laws.

Olimpo says he drummed up the idea during a chat amongst friends about the tariffs. After his friends pointed out that the adult website was in fact Canadian-owned, he took to the internet to jokingly make the petition. Little did he know, a few laughs and a couple dozen signatures from Facebook friends would blow up across the world. 

At the time of publication, the signature count sits at nearly 950, which Olimpo says includes names beyond Canada – from the U.K. to Australia. 

While he admits that nothing will likely come of the petition, he says he finds it “amusing” how passionate the response has been on both sides of the border. 

“There are people taking the petition seriously and they’re arguing… it kind of puts that spotlight on the absurdity of the whole [tariffs] and 51st state idea,” Olimpo said in an interview with Now Toronto on Wednesday. 

“It’s not something that’s ever going to happen… but I think it would be hilarious.”  

Olimpo’s view of the petition argues that this is both a peaceful and effective response to the ongoing trade dispute, because it’s not about shutting down a business; it’s about sending a message. And in his own “light-hearted” way, as he describes it, nothing says ‘let’s resolve this trade issue’ like millions of disappointed Americans unable to access one of their favourite pastimes.

“It’s just to trigger the absurd group of people… it is a serious issue, but at the same time, we as Canadians are injecting humour into it,” he said. 

As hilarious as the petition is, Olimpo’s call to block the U.S.’s access to Canadian content highlights the importance of digital platforms in the trade war. Sectors like lumber, steel, and dairy are heavily impacted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, but Olimpo points out that online access is just as important as the goods and services.

“If we could use [this petition] to further the cause and put an end to this nonsense, the more, the better.” 

Now Toronto reached out to Pornhub multiple times for comment, but has yet to receive a response.