Pornhub is set to restrict access for new users in the UK from February, citing the “failed system” created by the Online Safety Act.
Canadian adult entertainment conglomerate Aylo, owner of Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube, confirmed new UK registrations will be blocked from 2 February.
Existing, age-verified UK users will, however, retain access.
The decision follows rules introduced last July under the Online Safety Act (OSA), mandating strong age checks for pornography sites to prevent children from accessing harmful material.
Aylo criticised the OSA, stating it has “made the internet more dangerous for minors and adults” and “jeopardises the privacy and personal data of UK citizens.”
It added that it would “no longer participate in the failed system that has been created in the United Kingdom as a result of the OSA’s introduction”.
Research suggested earlier this month that nearly half of adult pornography users have accessed sites without age checks since new verification rules came into force.
A poll by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation (LFF) found that since the law changed in July, 45 per cent of 1,469 people who use pornography had gone on websites without age checks to avoid putting in their personal information.
Alex Kekesi, Aylo’s vice president of brand and community, said: “Our sites, which host legal and regulated porn, will no longer be available in the UK to new users, but thousands of irresponsible porn sites will still be easy to access.
“Despite the clear intent of the law to restrict minors’ access to adult content, and commitment to enforcement, after six months of implementation, our experience strongly suggests that the OSA has failed to achieve that objective.
“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.
“We believe this framework in practice has diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet, and has also jeopardised the privacy and personal data of UK citizens.”
Ms Kekesi said Ofcom was “given an impossible mandate” and it is “too big a challenge for any regulator to execute within the parameters of the Act”.
She added: “Based on our data and experience, effective enforcement is not possible, circumvention is rampant, privacy is compromised, and new, unregulated sites quickly fill any gaps left by responsible operators.
“In other jurisdictions, Aylo has often been one of the only major platforms to comply, only to see traffic diverted to even larger, non-compliant sites.
“Although larger operators are compliant, we believe the OSA has created an ecosystem where the vast majority of sites with age-inappropriate content are left unchecked.
“Users are turning to sites that do not have uploader verification measures and do not moderate content, leading to an increased risk of exposure to dangerous or illegal content.”
As of January 27 2026, 68 of the top 100 pornography services in the UK have deployed age checks.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “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 UK.
“There’s nothing to stop technology providers from developing solutions which work at the device level, and we would urge the industry to get on with that if they can evidence it is highly effective.
“Our job is to enforce the rules as they stand. We’ve put in place age assurance rules that are flexible and proportionate, and we have seen widespread adoption.
“We’ve taken strong and swift action against non-compliance, launching investigations into more than 80 porn sites and fining a porn provider £1 million, with more to come.
“We will continue our dialogue with Aylo to understand this change to its position.
“Any changes to the law around device-based age assurance is a matter for government.”
