Pornhub will restrict access to its website for UK users from next week, effectively blocking new visitors in protest at tougher age-verification requirements introduced under the Online Safety Act.
From 2 February, only people who already hold a Pornhub account will be able to access the site. The same restrictions will apply to other adult websites owned by its parent company Aylo, including YouPorn and Redtube.
Aylo said the UK’s age-check regime had failed to protect children and instead pushed users towards “darker, unregulated corners of the internet”. The company said traffic to Pornhub fell by 77% after the new requirements took effect last summer.
Alex Kekesi, Aylo’s head of community and brand, described the move as a “difficult decision”.
“Our sites, which host legal and regulated porn, will no longer be available in the UK to new users, while thousands of irresponsible porn sites remain easy to access,” she said.
Aylo initially complied with the law’s requirements, she added, in the belief that Ofcom could enforce the legislation effectively. However, six months after the rules came into force, the company said its experience suggested the Act had not achieved its primary objective of stopping children accessing adult content.
Ofcom rejected that assessment. A spokesperson said pornographic services had a clear choice: “use age checks to protect users as required under the Act, or block access to their sites in the UK”.
The regulator said it would continue discussions with Aylo to understand the change in its position, adding that the age-assurance rules were “flexible and proportionate” and had seen widespread adoption across the sector.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said the law does not prevent adults from viewing legal content and does not require companies to leave the UK market.
“The Online Safety Act is clear: online pornographic services must stop children accessing this material by putting robust age assurance in place,” a spokesperson said.
Pornhub remains the UK’s most-visited adult site, according to Similarweb. Visitors to the UK version of the site are currently met with a notice requesting proof they are over 18. From next week, new users will instead face what Kekesi described as “a wall” blocking access altogether.
Solomon Friedman of Ethical Capital Partners, which owns Aylo, said the company believed Ofcom was acting “in good faith” but argued the legislation itself was flawed.
“You have a dedicated regulator working in good faith, but unfortunately the law they are operating under cannot possibly succeed,” he said, adding that users could still easily find explicit material via search engines.
Legal and technology experts remain divided. Emma Drake, partner specialising in online safety at Bird & Bird, said research cited by Aylo also showed overall adult use of porn sites had fallen, and that the same was likely true for children.
“Adding barriers to the most well-known sites can still protect a very large number of children who won’t make the effort to bypass them,” she said.
Aylo has argued that age controls should be implemented at device level by companies such as Apple, Google and Microsoft, rather than by individual websites.
Ofcom said there was nothing to stop device manufacturers developing effective age-assurance tools, but stressed that its role was to enforce the law as written.
Cyber-security expert Dr Chelsea Jarvie cautioned that no single solution would be sufficient. “Virtual private networks offer a workaround, which is why protecting children online requires layered controls rather than reliance on any single measure,” she said.
VPN downloads surged in the UK after age-verification rules took effect in July. Peers in the House of Lords have since backed an amendment to prohibit the provision of VPNs to children, highlighting the growing political focus on enforcement.
The decision by Pornhub marks the highest-profile pushback yet against the UK’s online safety regime and is likely to intensify debate over how age-verification laws should be implemented, and who should be responsible for enforcing them.
