Porn hub to stop new users from the UK

[Wannabeblueysmum]

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/27/pornhub-to-stop-new-uk-users-accessing-site-from-next-week

The company have said they will "no longer participate in a failed system" meaning the now enforceable age checks. I think that says it all. This is the company that women had to fight to remove videos of their abuse and clearly they were ok with children accessing it previously. Use is 77% lower since the new age checks. I couldn't be more happy

Hear hear.

This was the company that had to remove over 80% of content when faced with legal action in the US for having underage children and films of rapes and abuse?

The only bad thing with them going is it wasn’t because they were banned.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I thought they already had the age checks?

If only.
The cynic in me assumes a significant amount of men in power probably have a pornhub account 🤮

I may be wrong but from October the government brought in laws that the age checks had to be verified with ID

That’s what I thought, so what will be different? Are they really never going to allow anyone to sign up again? If so this is a massive step in the right direction

That's correct. ID or an app that estimates your age from a couple of photos.

It is not very clear from that article why exactly they are pulling out of the UK. They have already implemented the age check system and it presumably works. So why now? And do they really think anyone in government will say “please stay” rather than “good riddance”?

Anyone in the UK that has already set up and age-verified their account will still be able to access the site. The option to create a new account will be removed for anyone accessing the site within the UK. As it's no longer possible to view any content without a verified account, the site will effectively be locked down for UK users without one (or a VPN).

It won't be forever - They don't oppose age verification, their issues are with the technology they're having to use, and the fact that anyone capable of using a computer can bypass it in second.

New technology that will allow people to verify their age at device level - so locally on their phone without sending anything to a third party - will soon be available, and the authorities are pushing for adults websites to adopt it. They'll open it up again once it's available.

Or a VPN…

I'm sure I read somewhere that the premium accounts had been hacked scooping lots of details.
That could be a tad awkward and imagine trusting a porn site with cc details email etc

They're essentially just chucking their toys out of the pram in protest of the OSA, and can afford to take the hit to make their point.

Their position was that the govt should have waited until the likes of Apple, Google and Microsoft had their on-device age-verification technology ready to launch, and used them instead.

Also that it would be extremely unlikely for the 70% of their UK userbase no longer using their sites to all stop accessing internet pornography. They feel that by pushing through a framework that wasn't fit for purpose, the Govt have pushed those people towards unregulated sites that are likely to contain unvetted or possibly illegal content.

Yes, I assume whatever it was I used to do to access iplayer when I lived abroad can be used for this. Teens are surely more likely to know about it than many adults as with a lot of technology

the Govt have pushed those people towards unregulated sites that are likely to contain unvetted or possibly illegal content.

You say that as if Porn Hub actually vet their content or that it is all legal. Having one person worldwide to check flagged content doesn’t count as vetting!

I expect it's very much the "look busy" of content moderation.

I think it's probably a cost to them to verify new users that they won't recoup in advertising revenue per user. It means they may be able to cancel their contract with the age verification company. They may also have been advised that the cost of fighting the Online Safety Act would be ruinous and ultimately unsuccessful.

The 77% drop is users who appear to be from the UK, right?
Could it be that UK users have found some way to appear to be from elsewhere when accessing the internet?

They may also have been advised that the cost of fighting the Online Safety Act would be ruinous and ultimately unsuccessful.

I think there are a lot of other reasons why it might not be a good idea to allow themselves to be subject to scrutiny in court.

Hoo feckin ra!!! That platform should be shut down altogether imo

Good grief, even a porn site has higher standards than Twitter now.

IMO PH are rebelling against the Online Safety Act by simply not entertaining it. By this point everyone who doesn't live in a cave knows what a VPN is and I think PH want people to use VPNs to access their site.

Your first thought might be "hooray what good news" but it's not really if it just means the Online Safety Bill means a large number of people eventually end up using a VPN or TOR (which can expose them to more harm since nothing will be blocked on there).

Or it could mean many people go back to Google/duckduckgo and search for other porn sites and end up on something really dodgy.

Well, yes, exactly the situation that many experts predicted.

Won't people just use a VPN to appear as if they're viewing it from another country?

I seem to remember politicians arguing against age checks/registering on portal sites.