In a significant development for digital regulation in Britain, the prominent adult content platform Pornhub has announced it will begin blocking new users from the United Kingdom starting February 2. This decisive action comes as a direct response to the government's Online Safety Act, which mandates strict age verification for accessing pornography.
Aylo's Stance on Regulatory Failure
The Cyprus-based parent company, Aylo, issued a strongly worded statement criticising the legislation. The firm contends that the age verification software required by the law has not only failed in its primary objective of safeguarding minors but has inadvertently created more significant risks.
'We cannot continue to operate within a system that, in our view, fails to deliver on its promise of child safety, and has had the opposite impact,' the statement declared. Aylo warned that the policy has 'diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet', suggesting the Act may be counterproductive.
The Mechanics of the Online Safety Act
Enforced since last July, the Online Safety Act requires websites hosting material deemed potentially harmful, including pornography, to verify that users are over 18. Non-compliance carries severe penalties, including fines of up to £18 million. In the most extreme cases, the UK regulator Ofcom possesses the authority to pursue legal action to block a site entirely from British internet users.
To assist providers, Ofcom has outlined seven approved methods for conducting these 'highly effective' age checks. The permitted strategies include:
- Photo-ID matching (uploading a verified document like a passport)
- Facial age estimation via photo analysis
- Mobile-network operator (MNO) age checks
- Credit card verification
- Email-based age estimation
- Digital identity services
- Open banking, which accesses age data from a user's bank records
Widespread Criticism and Unintended Consequences
The legislation has faced considerable scrutiny from various quarters. Critics have long argued that the age verification measures are relatively easy to circumvent, primarily through the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which can disguise a user's location. Data appears to support this concern; following the Act's introduction, Britain experienced a massive surge in VPN usage, spiking by more than 700 per cent in the immediate aftermath.
This loophole has prompted political action. Just last week, the House of Lords voted to pass an amendment specifically designed to block children's access to VPNs, reflecting ongoing governmental pressure to strengthen the bill's effectiveness.
The Industry's Divided Response
Despite the apparent ease of bypassing the law, many adult websites have chosen to implement the required age checks. Pornhub's decision to withdraw from accepting new UK users instead marks a starkly different approach, highlighting a deep rift in how platforms are responding to the regulatory environment.
Aylo's statement concluded with a pointed assessment: 'Despite the clear intent of the law to restrict minors' access to adult content...our experience strongly suggests that the OSA [Online Safety Act] has failed to achieve that objective.' This move places the spotlight firmly on Ofcom and the government to evaluate whether the current framework truly protects young people or, as Pornhub alleges, inadvertently pushes them towards riskier online spaces.
