Pornhub Says UK Age Checks Pushed Users to Rogue Adult Sites
The letter undercuts the premise of the UK's age verification regime by arguing the regulation is steering users toward unregulated sites, a claim Ofcom partially concedes while standing by the policy.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
Pornhub has sent an open letter to UK lawmakers arguing that the Online Safety Act age verification obligation failed to protect children. The company claims rogue adult sites that skip age checks now dominate search results, and that access to illegal adult sites is increasing despite the new rules.
Pornhub, the most accessed adult site in the UK, told lawmakers that stricter age verification has produced the opposite of its intended effect. In an open letter, the company said 7 of the top 10 search results for the query "free porn" as of June 2026 were rogue adult sites that neglect the age verification obligation.
The UK communications regulator Ofcom reported that daily visitors to adult sites fell by about one-third after the rules took effect, and that most of the top 100 popular adult sites comply. Ofcom also acknowledged that unverified sites remain reachable through search engines, and said it plans to work with Google and Microsoft to address the problem.
Pornhub's own UK access has dropped 77% since verification began, though the company notes many users bypass the checks with VPNs.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.