Pornhub will block new users in the UK next month

1 week ago 10

Emma Roth

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

Pornhub will soon begin restricting UK users from accessing its website in response to the country’s “failed” online safety regulations, according to an announcement on Tuesday. The site’s owner, Aylo, says it will block users who haven’t already verified their age on the platform starting February 2nd, 2026, as reported earlier by 404 Media.

As part of efforts to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act, Pornhub began requiring users in the country to provide proof of their age by uploading a government ID, entering a credit card, through their mobile network, or using another method.

The UK’s Online Safety Act became law in 2023 with the goal of preventing kids from accessing “harmful” material online. But rules mandating “strong age checks” under the legislation came into force last year, impacting porn sites and other platforms like Bluesky, Xbox, Reddit, and Discord. Many users have already found ways around this, whether it involves using a virtual private network (VPN) or tricking age-estimating face scans.

Aylo claims the Online Safety Act makes the internet “more dangerous” for children, while harming the privacy of users in the UK. “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,” Aylo’s announcement says. “We believe this framework in practice has diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet, and has also jeopardized the privacy and personal data of UK citizens.”

People who have already gone through the age verification process on Pornhub will still be able to access the site by logging in, while everyone else will get shut out after February 2nd, according to the post. The block will also apply to the other adult websites owned by Aylo, including YouPorn and Redtube.

Pornhub has already gone dark in nearly two dozen states across the US, including Florida, Texas, Arizona, Georgia, Utah, and others, in response to local age verification laws.

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