Pornhub, the world’s most visited adult site, says that it will officially block UK users from next week, citing the Online Safety Act’s “failed system” of age verification checks.

New UK registrations to the site will be blocked from 2 February, though existing, age-verified UK users will be able to retain access to Pornhub, YouPorn, and RedTube, the adult sites under Canadian company Aylo.

The decision to block new UK users follows the rules introduced in July 2025 under the Online Safety Act, which forced sites with adult content to input strong age verification checks to prevent children from accessing the platforms.

In the following days of the rules coming into effect, Pornhub and other sites saw a major drop in UK traffic, while downloads of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) shot up as people tried to evade the verification rules.

Age verification tools often require users to input personal details like ID cards or credit cards, which cyber experts have noted creates a major cyber risk, as this data could now be in danger of a breach or cyber-attack as sites rush to implement age checks.

Online safety advocates have also critiqued the age check mandate, saying that it could drive underage users, and users who wish to remain private, into darker areas of the internet with more harmful or even illegal material.

Aylo criticised the Online Safety Act’s age verification mandate when it announced its exit, saying that it “made the internet more dangerous for minors and adults”, and “jeopardises the privacy and personal data of UK citizens.”

The firm said it would “no longer participated in the failed system that has been created in the United Kingdom as a result of the OSA’s introduction.”

Aylo’s vice president of brand and community, Alex Kekesi, warned: “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.

“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.

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“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.”

An Ofcom spokesperson commented: “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.”

They went on to say that Ofcom has launched probes into over 80 porn sites, and even issued a £1 million fine on a porn provider over the rules.

While the regulator says that it will continue to communicate with Aylo to understand its change of stance, it maintained that “any changes to the law around device-based age assurance is a matter for government.”