NICOSIA, Cyprus — Pornhub parent company Aylo on Tuesday announced that users in Australia will once again be able to access the popular site if they are using Apple devices and have confirmed their age through Apple’s Australian age-verification process.
In March, Aylo restricted access to its free video-sharing platforms in Australia in response to the country’s implementation of a new Designated Internet Services Code, which requires that sites and platforms with “the sole or predominant purpose” of providing online adult content must implement age-assurance measures before allowing users to access such content.
At the time, an Aylo spokesperson told XBIZ that the company viewed Australia’s approach as ineffective at protecting minors, and likely to create “harms relating to data privacy and exposure to illegal content on noncompliant platforms.”
In a statement issued Tuesday, Aylo VP Brand and Community Alex Kekesi said, “For years, Aylo has advocated for device-based age verification as the most effective and privacy-protecting approach to help prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content online. With their recent Australian update, Apple set a benchmark by enabling child safety features automatically for users who have not verified that they are adults, ultimately, making every phone or tablet kid-safe as a starting point. As a result, today Aylo welcomes eligible age-confirmed Australian iOS users back to Pornhub.”
The announcement mirrors Aylo’s trajectory in the United Kingdom, where the company similarly began blocking access to its free sites in February, unless users had already set up accounts. Aylo made the move in response to what it viewed as the OSA’s “flawed system.”
Then, in May, following Apple’s launch of iOS 26.4, Aylo announced that it would reopen access to its free video-sharing platforms for U.K. users who use Apple devices and have confirmed their age through Apple’s U.K. age-verification process. At the time, Kekesi called Apple’s U.K.-wide device-based age assurance “a huge step” and said that Aylo sees the solution as “the path forward.”
Since then, U.K. media regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation to determine whether Aylo’s use of device-based age verification complies with the U.K.’s Online Safety Act. Ofcom previously praised Apple’s age verification methods, calling the implementation “a real win for children and families.” However, the agency's post announcing the new Aylo investigation suggests that Ofcom does not consider use of Apple's device-level AV to be an automatic guarantee of OSA compliance. The agency noted that it remains the service provider’s responsibility to ensure that any age assurance process is highly effective, “no matter at what stage an age check occurs.”
A spokesperson for Australia’s online safety regulator, eSafety, told XBIZ that "high-risk" services like Pornhub can use a number of different methods and options to complete age assurance checks under Australia’s Age-Restricted Material Codes, "as long as they can demonstrate that their methods are fair, accurate, robust and effective, and comply with Australian privacy laws."
The spokesperson said that eSafety "encourages a layered approach to age assurance and online safety," but noted that it remains the responsibility of individual services like Pornhub to ensure the measures they use meet their obligations under Australia's Online Safety Act.
Aylo has also blocked access to its sites in numerous U.S. states, as well as in France, due to what it sees as impractical and unworkable AV laws.
