Pornhub writes to MPs warning the OSA is benefiting non-compliant sites

Adult website Pornhub and its owner Aylo have written to roughly 300 MPs, arguing that age-verification rules under the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA) have failed to protect children. The company claims that mandatory age checks have boosted traffic to non-compliant rivals, which occupied seven of the top ten search results for free adult content in June.

Aylo reported a 77% drop in traffic on Pornhub since the OSA was introduced and has instead called for device-level verification rather than platform-level obligations.

In stark contrast, communications regulator Ofcom reported that age checks reduced estimated daily visitors to adult websites by roughly a third, with all top ten platforms compliant. However, Ofcom acknowledged that some users bypass restrictions via search engines and VPNs, noting UK usage has nearly doubled. 

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