[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-uk-regulator-opens-age-verification-probe-into-pornhub":10,"sections":45},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":34,"tags":35,"sources":40,"feedback":44,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":44,"total_tokens":44},7642,"uk-regulator-opens-age-verification-probe-into-pornhub","UK Regulator Opens Age Verification Probe Into Pornhub","Ofcom is investigating whether Pornhub's age checks, including Apple's device-level verification, actually keep children out.","The UK wants proof that Pornhub's age checks actually stop kids from seeing porn.\n\nOfcom opened an investigation into Aylo, Pornhub's parent company, on Sept. 22, examining whether the site uses \"highly effective age assurance\" under the UK's Online Safety Act. The regulator is also running a children's access assessment. The law, in force since July 2025, requires adult sites to verify users' ages with methods like government ID. Pornhub blocked unverified UK visitors in January 2026, citing gaps in the law's enforcement, then restored access in May after Apple rolled out device-level age verification in iOS 26.4.\n\nPornhub says it welcomes the scrutiny. VP of brand and community Alex Kekesi said the company has \"done our due diligence\" and called Pornhub's over 130 million daily visitors \"the perfect testing ground\" for age-verification methods that actually work. Verified UK adults will see no change, she said.\n\nThe real story is what Ofcom's finding will mean beyond one site. Device-level verification, done once on a phone instead of repeatedly on each website, is what porn platforms have lobbied Apple, Google, and Microsoft to adopt for years. If Ofcom blesses it, expect other regulators and companies to follow; if not, the industry's preferred fix loses its best test case.\n\nEven a passing grade won't close every loophole. Kekesi herself cited the Free Speech Coalition's finding that fewer than 5 percent of consumers complete age verification for adult content, and viewers can still reach porn through VPNs or noncompliant sites, a gap Ofcom's own report acknowledged a year after the law took effect. The UK has already fined one adult site, 8579 LLC, 1.35 million pounds for skipping age checks altogether in February 2026.","[\"pornhub\",\"ofcom\",\"age-verification\",\"online-safety-act\"]","2026-09-24T15:44:28.000Z","2026-09-24T17:00:49.052Z","2026-09-24T17:00:53.639Z","published",null,[24,30],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"Remove or attribute the claim that a VPN bypasses the checks 'in about ten seconds' — that specific figure appears nowhere in the source material and reads as an invented statistic.","resolved",{"id":31,"reviewer":26,"round":32,"reason":33,"status":29},"editor-r2",2,"Cut the closing insinuation that the alternative to transparency 'was looking like it had something to hide' — that's an unsupported editorial implication not grounded in the source material; state the VPN\u002Fnoncompliant-site workaround and Ofcom's own report finding plainly without speculating about Pornhub's motives.","policy",[36,37,38,39],"pornhub","ofcom","age-verification","online-safety-act",[41],{"name":42,"url":43},"Mashable","https:\u002F\u002Fmashable.com\u002Flife\u002Fpornhub-responds-to-uk-ofcom-investigation",0,{"sections":46},[47,52,57,60,65,70,75,80,85,90,95,100,105,110],{"name":48,"slug":49,"count":50,"latest_published_at":51},"AI","ai",4432,"2026-09-24T16:32:42.000Z",{"name":53,"slug":54,"count":55,"latest_published_at":56},"Security","security",725,"2026-09-24T14:26:32.000Z",{"name":58,"slug":34,"count":59,"latest_published_at":18},"Policy",384,{"name":61,"slug":62,"count":63,"latest_published_at":64},"Deals","deals",232,"2026-09-24T14:00:29.000Z",{"name":66,"slug":67,"count":68,"latest_published_at":69},"Hardware","hardware",178,"2026-09-24T15:24:48.000Z",{"name":71,"slug":72,"count":73,"latest_published_at":74},"Science","science",138,"2026-09-24T18:24:52.000Z",{"name":76,"slug":77,"count":78,"latest_published_at":79},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",125,"2026-09-24T17:00:00.000Z",{"name":81,"slug":82,"count":83,"latest_published_at":84},"Software","software",87,"2026-09-24T17:02:02.000Z",{"name":86,"slug":87,"count":88,"latest_published_at":89},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",79,"2026-09-22T22:21:13.000Z",{"name":91,"slug":92,"count":93,"latest_published_at":94},"Startups","startups",67,"2026-09-24T14:31:00.000Z",{"name":96,"slug":97,"count":98,"latest_published_at":99},"Gaming","gaming",45,"2026-09-22T15:35:06.000Z",{"name":101,"slug":102,"count":103,"latest_published_at":104},"General","general",43,"2026-09-21T23:48:56.000Z",{"name":106,"slug":107,"count":108,"latest_published_at":109},"Reviews","reviews",29,"2026-09-24T13:00:00.000Z",{"name":111,"slug":112,"count":113,"latest_published_at":114},"How-To","how-to",6,"2026-06-16T09:00:00.000Z"]