British regulator takes a hard look at Pornhub's Apple-powered age checks

Ofcom has opened an investigation into whether Pornhub's Apple-based age checks are effective enough to keep children away from its adult content. The investigation will examine whether Pornhub owner Aylo complied with age assurance duties that came into force under the Online Safety Act (OSA) in July 2025. Pornhub introduced a new age assurance process for some UK users in May 2026, relying on signals supplied by Apple. The signals indicate that an iOS user may have completed Apple's age checks. Ofcom stressed that its investigation concerns how Aylo implemented and tested the resulting process, not how Apple operates its system. Aylo restricted Pornhub to new UK users on February 2 after arguing that the OSA had diverted visitors toward less regulated sites rather than protecting children. Existing users who had already verified their age retained access. The decision followed a steep decline in traffic: Pornhub's UK visits fell 47 percent shortly after the rules took effect and were reportedly down 77 percent by October. In May, Aylo partially reversed the restriction for eligible UK users who had confirmed their age through Apple. New users on Android, PCs, and other platforms remain locked out. The Register contacted Aylo for comment. "Online age checks are a vital protection to prevent children from encountering inappropriate or harmful material, including pornography," said George Lusty, director of enforcement at Ofcom. "We expect tech firms to ensure age checks are highly effective before introducing them. Anything less could leave children at risk." Ofcom will assess both the effectiveness of Pornhub's age assurance process and whether Aylo conducted sufficient testing and due diligence before deploying it. Services covered by the OSA must assess whether children are likely to access them. Ofcom says providers must revisit that assessment before making a significant change to their service or when evidence suggests their age checks have become less effective. Ofcom will gather evidence before deciding whether Aylo breached the OSA. If it provisionally finds a contravention, it must give the company an opportunity to respond before reaching a final decision. The regulator can close an investigation without further action or impose a fine of up to 18 million or 10 percent of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater. Ofcom can also order companies to remedy failures and, in serious cases of continuing noncompliance, ask a court to require third parties such as ISPs to restrict access to a service. Some failures involving information requests can expose senior managers to criminal liability. Ofcom under the cosh The watchdog has faced a battering in recent weeks, with senior politicians and other key officials criticizing its alleged inaction since the Online Safety Act's age assurance requirements kicked in last year. As part of the Lords Communications and Digital Committee's multi-day inquiry into the OSA's impact, Dame Rachel de Souza, England's Children's Commissioner, said earlier this month that children believe the legislation "has made absolutely no difference" in preventing access to online harms. De Souza further claimed that Ofcom had failed to bare its regulatory teeth and accused UK politicians of failing to give it sufficient power. Ofcom would argue the opposite, and did the following week. At a subsequent hearing, Ofcom enforcement director Suzanne Cater pointed to actions taken by the regulator against Telegram, TikTok, X, and other pornography companies. Cater also told peers that the regulator is gearing up to target larger companies now that many of the straightforward cases involving smaller companies are concluding. Cater and her colleagues nevertheless acknowledged limits to Ofcom's reach, particularly when companies operating from overseas have few UK assets against which fines can be enforced. (R) Updated to add at 1430 UTC on September 23: Alex Kekesi, Pornhub's veep of brand and community, speaking on behalf of Aylo, told The Register that Aylo believes Apple's device-level age verification offers one of the strongest and hardest to circumvent protections currently available for helping prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content." Kekesi pointed to public statements made to media organizations after Apple announced the new iOS feature, noting that Ofcom viewed it as a measure that could protect children in a variety of contexts. She also noted that Ofcom has previously called for system-wide solutions to age assurance gioven that the efficacy of such measures are not uniform, and dependent on each platform's individual implementation. Given Aylo's well-documented commitment to compliance and to the effective protection of minors, we continue to believe that Apple's implementation presents an opportunity for constructive collaboration and for the UK to establish a meaningful precedent in advancing effective, privacy-preserving online safety," she said. Having experimented in multiple markets with multiple methods of age assurance, including in the UK, Aylo believes that Apple's implementation is a pioneering approach for child safety that provides significantly stronger protection than any other age assurance method currently available in the UK market." Kekesi added: Aylo will cooperate fully with the investigation and looks forward to engaging with the case team."