Porn site Bellesa has blocked access to UK users, saying it was “no longer possible” to comply with age verification laws in the country, which were toughened up on July 25, 2025.
From that date sites and platforms that allow the sharing of porn had to implement robust age verification processes, designed to keep children from accessing adult content. Many porn sites, including Pornhub, have introduced such measures, but Bellesa has instead chosen to disable the site when accessed from the UK.
Bellesa, which is marketed as a “porn by women” site and features content by female directors, said that age verification should take place at device-level, rather than be the responsibility of individual sites. It added that the new UK rules were “flawed” and quashed artistic expression.
Now when you try to access the Bellesa site from the UK you’re met with a message that reads: “While United Kingdom law regarding age verification has the intent to protect children, the current approach is flawed and inadvertently hinders content creators from legally sharing their adult content and freedom of artistic expression.”
It continues: “It is unfortunately no longer possible for us to remain compliant to United Kingdom law while providing access to our content here, and have made the difficult decision to disable Bellesa.co in [the] United Kingdom.”
As a workaround, the company is offering a 95% discount to users from the UK who want to sign up for (and presumably go through verification for) a subscription to the BellesaPlus.co site (a different domain).
Aylo, the company behind Pornhub plus sites such as Redtube and Youporn, has also called for age verification to be done on devices rather than sites. However, Aylo has introduced new site-level age verification on its sites for UK users, saying that the new UK requirements were “robust”.
Bellesa, which also has a sex toy retail arm, said: “We believe that device-based age verification is the only safe and effective solution to protect both our users, as well as minors attempting to access explicit content. This method would allow for users to access age-restricted websites only by those who are verified, ensuring a safer online environment.”
Gay dating app Grindr also recently introduced new age verification processes for UK users, although some users have complained about video selfie verification on the app not working for them.
Social media sites such as Reddit and Bluesky, which allow porn on their platforms, have also brought in age checks for UK users accessing adult content.
Some Reddit users have complained about the platform requiring age verification for non-adult content subreddit groups, such as alcohol-related groups.
Concerns have been raised about the Online Safety Act potentially damaging independent adult sites, and affecting the incomes of online sex workers. There have also been concerns about data privacy related to age verification for porn sites.
Leave a Reply