Aylo has said that its porn sites will take part in the European Commission’s age verification app pilot project, as the EU works towards implementing tougher age verification for online porn access across its member states.
The company, which owns sites such as Pornhub, Redtube and YouPorn, has been strongly advocating for age verification laws to focus on verification at device level rather than it being the responsibility of porn sites and platforms. However, Aylo told Netzpolitik that it would be one of the first participants in the European Commission app pilot.
The European Commission’s age verification app is currently being piloted in member states Denmark, France, Greece, Italy and Spain. In 2026 the app is set to be integrated into the European Identity Wallet (EUDI): a new form of digital ID that’s set to launch for EU member states.
Porn sites will be able to use the app to verify that users are aged 18 or over before allowing them access to porn. The process wouldn’t be classed as device-level verification, and the EU’s rules would still require porn sites to actively block users that can’t verify that they are adults.
Aylo saying its sites will comply with the app pilot could be seen as surprising, as it follows more stringent recent age verification-based moves from the company in Europe. In June 2025 Aylo blocked its porn sites in France, saying it was “taking a stand” against French age verification laws. Aylo had also blocked its sites in many US states, saying it couldn’t comply with tougher new age verification state laws.
The porn company has been battling German authorities in the courts over age verification. In November the Düsseldorf Administrative Court overturned internet blocks that had been imposed on Pornhub and YouPorn, that had been ordered by the Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia State Media Authority after Aylo refused to implement age verification in the country.
Aylo told Netzpolitik: “We all want to ensure the safety of minors online, and we all share the responsibility for that… we are committed to always complying with legal requirements in all countries where we operate.”
The European Commission move has the potential to undermine Aylo recently gearing up its efforts to push hard for device-level age verification for porn access.
In November the company lobbied Apple, Google and Microsoft to support device-level age verification. It also said that Pornhub’s traffic fell by 77 percent in the UK after the country introduced more stringent age verification rules in July.
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