Pornhub to block many UK visitors as new age-verification deadline looms

Aylo, the company behind Pornhub, announced a change that will prevent many visitors in the United Kingdom from reaching the site unless they complete mandated age checks before a specified deadline. The decision follows recent UK regulations that require adult platforms to deploy robust measures to confirm users’ ages, a shift that Aylo says presents technical and privacy challenges. Existing accounts that have already passed verification will continue to work, but new or unverified users will encounter blocked access once the rule takes effect. Aylo frames the move as a reluctant response to legal obligations and argues that current compliance approaches may have unintended consequences for user safety. The company contends that forcing rigid, centralized verification could drive traffic to services that ignore the law and operate without content moderation. Regulators including the UK communications authority have been rolling out codes aimed at protecting minors by insisting on effective age-gating tools, and providers must now reconcile those standards with data-protection responsibilities. Observers note a tension between reducing underage access and preserving user privacy; device-based checks are touted by some as less intrusive than centralized identity stores. Technical workarounds such as virtual private networks remain available to users seeking to circumvent geographic or access controls, prompting discussions about enforcement practicality. The broader policy debate also intersects with separate proposals to restrict certain online tools and impose age limits for social platforms, indicating an expanding regulatory footprint. For platforms, the immediate challenge is operational: implement legally compliant verification that satisfies regulators and privacy advocates without abandoning significant portions of their audience. For policymakers, the dilemma is enforcement: strict rules can shrink visibility of regulated sites but may enlarge the unregulated corners of the internet. The outcome will shape where users go for adult content, how platforms collect and protect identity data, and how effective regulation can be without creating new harms.