PornHub Withdraws From UK Over Online Safety Act

As of February 2, PornHub will start restricting access to UK users.

Since the UK's Online Safety Act came into effect, PornHub (and others) have complied by requiring users to verify their ages. Now, parent company Aylo is reversing course and saying that after February 2nd, access will be restricted:

“Despite the clear intent of the law to restrict minors’ access to adult content and commitment to enforcement, after 6 months of implementation, our experience strongly suggests that the OSA has failed to achieve that objective. 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 U.K. citizens.”

Aylo has been advocating for device-based verification rather than requiring services to handle user data, arguing that it is more effective and safer.

Aylo's claim that the law has simply driven users to other, seedier platforms who don't comply has been a commonly-voiced concern among critics of the law.

The company also claimed that Ofcom - the UK's regulator who enforces the OSA - has failed to adequately enforce the law against other platforms who aren't in compliance.

Ofcom disagreed, telling Aylo:

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.

They also claim to have more than 80 investigations pending and at least one £1 million fine, "with more to come."

It's unclear from the article exactly what PornHub's withdrawal will mean in practice. The article says that users who have already verified can still use their accounts after February 2nd, but it's unclear if users can still verify up until February 2nd or if that functionality has already been halted.

PornHub experienced a data breach late last year, which exposed data of Premium subscribers including email addresses, watch history, location, and more.