Pornhub is live again for Australian adults who confirm their age through Apple, after its owner blocked the country in March over new verification rules.
The backstory: Aylo blocked Australian users in March, when online safety codes required adult sites to verify users as 18 or older or face fines up to $49.5m. The company argued the rules would create data privacy risks while failing to protect minors.
- Three VPN apps shot up the Australian download charts right after the block, according to Sensor Tower data cited by the Guardian, then slipped back out of the top 25.
Zoom in: Apple turned on device level age checks in Australia last month, following a UK rollout earlier this year. Users confirm age with a credit card, passport, driver's license or government ID, and existing account holders can be cleared by the card on file or by how long they have held the account.
- Until a user is identified as over 18, content filtering and restrictions on downloading adult apps stay on by default.
What they're saying: Apple "set a benchmark by enabling child safety features automatically for users who have not verified that they are adults, ultimately, making every phone or tablet kid-safe as a starting point," said Alex Kekesi, Aylo's vice-president for brand and community.
Yes, but: The UK version has been rocky. Ofcom is investigating whether minors can still reach the site and said it is concerned Aylo may have skipped sufficient due diligence and testing before launching its age assurance process.
Why it matters: Age verification is migrating from the website to the phone, and Aylo is urging Apple to ship the feature globally while calling on Microsoft and Google to match it. That design choice decides who holds your ID: one device maker, or every site you visit.
