"Pornhub is to stop new users accessing its site in the UK from next week, citing the impact of mandatory age checks that were introduced last summer under the Online Safety Act. The pornography website, which is one of the most visited in the world, announced that from 2 February only users who have already verified their age will retain access through their existing accounts. The change also affects YouPorn and RedTube, explicit websites operated by the same Cyprus-based company, Aylo."
"Alex Kekesi, vice-president of brand and community for Aylo, said: 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. She added: 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."
"Pornhub remains the most popular porn site in the UK, according to the web traffic analyst SimilarWeb. Last month, Ofcom said visitor numbers to Pornhub in August were 9.8 million, a decline of 1.5 million compared with the same period in 2024, but the fall appears to have continued since. Meanwhile, use of specialist software, such as VPNs, to dodge viewing restrictions has increased. VPN usage more than doubled in the wake of age checking being introduced, rising from 650,000 users to a peak of more than 1.4 million in mid-August and falling back to 900,000 in December."
Pornhub will stop new users accessing its site in the UK from 2 February because of mandatory age checks introduced under the Online Safety Act. The restriction also applies to YouPorn and RedTube, operated by Cyprus-based Aylo. Aylo said it will not participate in the system created by the OSA and warned that unregulated sites remain easy to access and that the framework has diverted traffic to darker corners and jeopardised UK users' privacy. Traffic to Pornhub fell sharply after July, and VPN usage rose from 650,000 to a mid-August peak above 1.4 million.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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