Pornhub is BACK: Popular porn site accessible again for some UK users,
Pornhub is back in the UK, three months after it effectively banned British users over an age–verification row.
Aylo, the Cyprus–based company behind the world’s best–known pornography site, announced it would be making the site available for some people in the UK.
In February, the company cut off access for anyone who hadn’t previously registered with Pornhub and verified their age.
Now, Apple users who confirm their age with the latest version of the iPhone or iPad operating system will be allowed back on the site.
The iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4 update introduced mandatory age checks for all Apple users, blocking websites and filtering messages for anyone who doesn’t confirm their ID.
Aylo will now allow ‘age–confirmed iOS users’ to begin accessing adult content on Pornhub.
An Aylo spokesperson said: ‘With the release of iOS 26.4 Apple has introduced the world’s first ever device–based age verification solution for its users in the UK.
‘Starting today, Aylo is taking a measured step to restore access to Pornhub for eligible adult users in the UK who have confirmed their age through Apple’s UK age–verification process.’
Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, says it will start allowing UK users back onto the site, after banning Britons in February following an age–verification row
Pornhub’s row with the UK’s digital watchdogs began in July last year when the Online Safety Act (OSA) ushered in some of the world’s most restrictive rules on accessing online pornography.
From July 25, visitors to adult sites had to verify that they are over 18 either by providing credit card details, uploading a picture of their ID, or using a selfie to estimate their age.
As a result, visitors to large sites like Pornhub plummeted as British users refused to submit to ID checks.
By October that year, Pornhub said the number of UK visitors to its website had fallen by 77 per cent compared with July.
However, some of this drop may be due to a significant number of users using VPNs to disguise their browsing locations.
In response, Aylo argued that the OSA rules had not been applied evenly across the industry and claimed it would no longer participate in the system.
While these rules were intended to make it harder for under–18s to see explicit material, Aylo claims they have ‘diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet’.
As a result, it says it has ‘not achieved its goal of protecting minors’.
The Online Safety Act requires sites hosting adult content to confirm their users’ ages. However, data shows that many young people have found ways around these restrictions
In February, the row came to a head as Pornhub barred new British users who had not previously verified their age – effectively banning most Brits from the site.
However, the latest iOS update now provides an ID verification method that Aylo is satisfied with.
‘For years, Aylo has advocated for device–based age verification as the most effective and privacy–protecting approach,’ the company spokesperson says.
‘As a result, today Aylo welcomes eligible age–confirmed UK iOS users back to Pornhub.’
Ofcom, the government’s regulator for communications services, says it will ‘remain in close contact with Aylo, and will carefully scrutinise these changes’.
An Ofcom spokesperson added: ‘Services can implement age checks at device account level, but they must be confident they can demonstrate to Ofcom their process is highly effective, and be ready to provide us with detailed information on this when we demand it.’
Failure to get these checks right could come at a huge price for Aylo, since Ofcom has the power to levy massive fines in the case of breaches.
In February, the regulator fined adult content provider Kick Online Entertainment SA £800,000 for not having robust age checks in place.
While significant numbers of under–18s are still avoiding age checks (illustrated), Pornhub will only allow British users who have confirmed their age through Apple’s latest operating system update
However, Apple’s new mandatory checks have also proven controversial.
All iPhone users on iOS 26.4 and iPad users who upgrade to iPadOS 26.4 are now required to confirm their identity to access certain features or services.
Under–18s and adults who have not verified their age will be subjected to a ‘Web Content Filter’ and a ‘Communication Safety’ feature.
This feature blocks websites that host adult content, as well as more innocuous sites, such as those of high street chains Victoria’s Secret and Ann Summers.
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Anyone who wants to browse the internet without restrictions will need to provide a passport, a driver’s licence or government–issued ID, or a credit card to Apple.
Big Brother Watch, a digital privacy campaign group, has accused Apple of treating UK adults ‘like children’ and creating a ‘dangerous precedent for digital ID’.
In an open letter to Apple, the charity wrote: ‘Apple’s sudden age/ID check requirements have put a chokehold on Britons’s freedom to search the internet, to use apps, and to access, receive and impart information freely.
‘People who own Apple devices expect to control them – not for the devices to control them.’
