NewzLONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain's media regulator Ofcom on Wednesday opened an investigation into Pornhub's parent company over concerns that children were potentially accessing the platform's online pornography despite supposed age checks. Ofcom will investigate whether the firm Aylo "has complied with its duties to prevent children from encountering pornographic content", as stipulated by Britain's online safety laws, a statement said. Aylo, which is based in Montreal, Canada, blocked new users in Britain from accessing Pornhub, YouPorn and Redtube in February, citing the protection of minors.
However, it decided to partially reopen access in May to new users who had passed age verification checks. The restored access applied to Apple iPhone and iPad users who updated their devices to run on the technology giant's latest operating system. Ofcom on Wednesday said that Aylo "may not have conducted sufficient due diligence and testing before implementing its new age assurance process".
"As a result, we are concerned that Aylo's process may not be highly effective at preventing children from seeing pornography," it added in its statement. In response, Aylo said it "will cooperate fully with the investigation and looks forward to engaging with the case team". Aylo insisted that Apple "provides significantly stronger protection than any other age assurance method currently available in the UK market".
The UK Online Safety Act, which entered into force in July 2025, requires porn sites to carry out strict age verification checks through tools such as facial imagery or credit card identification -- or face hefty fines. Aylo previously said the Act had "diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet" and had "not achieved its goal of protecting minors". Ofcom on Wednesday said that if it found the law had been broken over UK age checks, it could impose fines of up to £18 million ($24 million) or 10 percent of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.
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