UK regulator Ofcom has opened an investigation into Pornhub over concerns that its age verification system may not be effective enough to prevent children from accessing adult content.
The investigation focuses on Pornhub operator Aylo Freesites and an age assurance process introduced in May 2026. The system relies partly on signals provided by Apple indicating that UK users on iPhones or iPads may have already completed an age check through Apple’s ecosystem.
Under the UK’s Online Safety Act, services hosting pornographic material must use highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing it. Ofcom is now examining whether Aylo carried out sufficient testing and due diligence before relying on Apple’s signals.
The distinction is important because the investigation is not assessing whether Apple’s own age-checking technology complies with the law. Instead, Ofcom is looking at how Pornhub incorporated the information provided by Apple and whether the resulting process reliably determines if someone is an adult.
Ofcom’s guidance makes services responsible for the effectiveness of their age checks even when verification is performed elsewhere. Using an operating system, device provider or another third party therefore does not transfer that legal responsibility away from the website.
The regulator is also investigating whether Aylo complied with requirements for children’s access assessments. These assessments are intended to determine whether children are likely to access a service and must be reconsidered in certain circumstances, including significant changes to how a platform operates or evidence that its age assurance may be less effective than expected.
Pornhub’s approach reflects a broader shift toward device-level age verification. Rather than repeatedly providing sensitive information to individual websites, users could potentially establish their age through a trusted device or platform and then share an age-related signal with services that require it.
Aylo says it will cooperate with the investigation and argues that Apple’s device-level approach provides strong protection that is difficult to circumvent.
No violation has yet been established. Ofcom’s investigation will determine whether there are reasonable grounds to conclude that Pornhub failed to meet its obligations under the Online Safety Act, with the regulator promising a further update once its examination progresses.