Pornhub to introduce ‘government-approved’ age checks in the UK

Pornhub is set to introduce enhanced age checks for users in the UK from next month.

According to the BBC, the adult-only site’s parent company Aylo said it was bringing in “government-approved age-assurance methods” from 25 July, although there were no details on how users will have to prove they are over the age of 18. It may involve photo ID or a credit card check.

The adult site currently requires UK users to click a button confirming they are 18 or older, but the regulator Ofcom has previously said this this is not enough to prevent young users from seeing pornographic images. The Online Safety Act requires sites containing sexually explicit material to introduce “robust” age-checking techniques by the summer.

Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom’s group director of online safety, said: “Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren’t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling. For too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online.”

In the US, adult websites have come under similar regulation in recent years, with Louisiana requiring users to present a legal government ID before accessing porn sites since 2023. Pornhub has been a major target, with the site being banned in more than a dozen states.

Users in Florida have managed to subvert the ban, with demand for virtual private networks (VPNs) surging by more than 1,000 per cent after Pornhub was banned in The Sunshine State.

Speaking about the Florida ban, an Aylo spokesperson said that while the company supported age-verification features, several states have taken legislation too far.

“The way many jurisdictions worldwide, including Florida, have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard and dangerous,” the spokesperson said. “Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy.”

A Republican-led bill was introduced in the US senate in May that aimed to block pornography across the entire country. Similar efforts have failed to pass twice before.

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