Aylo to Block France Due to Age Verification Law

PARIS—Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub.com and other popular tube and premium adult platforms, announced Tuesday that it will be blocking the country of France instead of complying with the French government's age verification SREN law. Daily users of Pornhub based in the French digital space could lose access as soon as Wednesday afternoon, according to the company, which claims this is a protest against ARCOM, the country's digital regulator, and the SREN law requiring age verification and assurance protocols. Pornhub Insights indicate that France's digital market is the world's second largest after the United States and ahead of the Philippines. A spokesperson for Aylo confirmed to AVN that the geo-block affects a population of more than 68 million people. This news comes as the wider European Union announced it is opening investigations into Pornhub, XVideos, XNXX and Stripchat for what the European Commission called "suspected breaches" of key age assurances provisions in the bloc's Digital Services Act. The European Union's edition of Politico reports that Solomon Friedman, a partner at Aylo's ownership group Ethical Capital Partners (ECP), called the French age verification law "dangerous," "potentially privacy infringing" and "ineffective."  In response to Aylo and ECP, French Digital Minister Clara Chappaz posted to her followers on X, "If Aylo prefers to leave France than apply our laws, that’s up to them."