Pornhub is going dark for UK users. Aylo, the parent company behind Pornhub and other major adult content platforms, announced it will block access from the United Kingdom starting February 2, rather than continue complying with the country's Online Safety Act. The move affects millions of users and marks the latest flashpoint in a global debate over age verification technology, privacy rights, and how governments should regulate online content.
Aylo just pulled the plug on UK access to Pornhub and its network of adult sites. The company announced Tuesday it will restrict access starting February 2, abandoning compliance efforts with the UK's Online Safety Act that it says have failed spectacularly.
The timing is pointed. After six months of operating under the OSA's age verification mandates, Aylo is calling the experiment a disaster. "Despite the clear intent of the law to restrict minors' access to adult content and commitment to enforcement, after 6 months of implementation, our experience strongly suggests that the OSA has failed to achieve that objective," the company said in its statement. The claim? Traffic is simply flowing to darker, unregulated corners of the internet where no one's checking IDs at all.
This is regulatory compliance by blockade. Instead of requiring users to verify their ages before accessing adult content - the core mandate of the Online Safety Act that took effect last year - Aylo is choosing to shut UK users out entirely. Users who already verified their identity will keep access, but new visitors will hit a wall.
Ofcom, the UK regulator enforcing the OSA, isn't buying Aylo's argument. "Porn services have a choice between using age checks to protect users as required under the Act, or to block access to their sites in the U.K.," the agency told TechCrunch. Ofcom insists it has launched investigations into more than 80 porn sites and handed down a £1 million fine to one provider, with more enforcement actions in the pipeline.
