Pornhub returns to Australia, but only for adults using Apple devices
Eight months after leaving the Australian market, Pornhub is available again, though only to adults who have verified their age through an Apple device. Parent company Aylo says device-based age checks are the most effective and privacy-protecting approach.
Pornhub has come back to Australia eight months after it withdrew from the country over new age-verification rules. Access is being restored only for adults who use Apple devices.
On Wednesday, the site's parent company Aylo said it was reinstating access for "eligible adult users in Australia" who have confirmed their age through Apple's Australian age-verification process.
Why the site left
The world's biggest porn site pulled out of the Australian market in March. The company argued at the time that the new rules, which require users to prove they are over 18, would not protect children and would instead create data-privacy harms and push people toward non-compliant platforms.
The stricter laws took effect in Australia in March, covering adult content such as pornography, R-rated video games and sexually explicit AI chatbots. The country's online safety regulator said the changes would shield children from harmful material and that platforms would face fines for breaches. Critics warned of data-privacy problems and of users finding ways to fool age-checking technologies such as facial recognition, digital IDs and credit card details.
Apple's approach
Apple recently introduced new age checks in Australia, following a rollout in the UK. Aylo says Apple has "set a benchmark" by enabling child-safety features by default on all devices until the owner confirms they are an adult. In effect, the company said, this makes every phone or tablet child-safe from the outset.
Alex Kekesi, Aylo's vice-president of brand and community, said the company has long advocated device-based age verification. Apple users can prove they are over 18 with a credit card, passport, driver's licence or government-issued ID. According to Kekesi, defaulting devices to child-safe settings means adults need not hand over unnecessary personal information to multiple apps and websites. She added that it also reduces the usefulness of VPNs for getting around age checks.
