The UK’s media and communications watchdog Ofcom has said that there are more fines for porn sites on their way, as Aylo blocked new users from its porn sites in the UK, citing age verification requirements.
From February 2, 2026 explicit content on Aylo’s porn sites, including Pornhub, RedTube and YouPorn, became inaccessible to UK-based users unless they previously registered on the sites and verified that they were aged 18 or over. It’s still possible for UK-based users to access the sites using a VPN on their device.
In July 2025 Aylo introduced stricter age verification processes for UK users, in an attempt to bring its porn sites in line with new, tougher age verification rules in the country. However, Aylo’s new block is being interpreted by some industry-watchers as a protest move against increasing demands for site-level age verification.
Ofcom has suggested that it will not let up in its pursuit of porn sites that don’t comply with the new, tougher UK rules. The regulator told CNN: “We’ve taken strong and swift action against non-compliance, launching investigations into more than 80 porn sites and fining a porn provider £1 million, with more to come.”
Ofcom was not necessarily issuing a direct threat to Aylo, despite the timing of the comment, with the regulator pursuing various sites and services for alleged non-compliance. Recently Ofcom issued AVS Group Ltd, which runs a slew of porn sites, with a £1 million ($1.36 million) fine for compliance failure.
The regulator told CNN that it would continue its “dialogue with Aylo to understand this change to its position.”
Aylo has lobbied for age verification rules to focus on device-level rather than site-level implementation, which could make age verification the responsibility of tech firms rather than porn sites.
Recently Aylo made public pleas to Apple, Google and Microsoft about this, sending the US tech giants letters asking them to support their stance. Prior to the UK block Aylo implemented blocks on its porn sites in many US states, also citing new tougher age verification laws.
On the first day of the new UK block Pornhub’s main home page was populated by non-porn videos, with porn accessible to registered users through a ‘Porn Videos’ tab.
Previously Aylo claimed that Pornhub lost 77 percent of its UK traffic following the tougher age verification rules coming into play in July 2025. The company argues that users are being pushed towards less well-regulated porn sites due to the UK changes.
At the time Pornhub head of community and brand Alex Kekesi said: “We’ve lost the traffic but these are not people that have stopped looking at porn overnight. They’re just going to other websites.”
Kekesi added: “And the big problem is that we take good care of making sure that the content on our platforms is compliant, is legal, is consensual. That is certainly not the case on these other platforms.”
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