Pornhub and its sister sites YouPorn and Redtube, owned by Aylo, suspended access for French users on Thursday, June 5, in protest of a new national law requiring strict age verification to access adult content. The decision followed years of unsuccessful negotiations with French regulators to create a verification system that Aylo claims would not compromise user privacy.

The company redirected French users to a protest message, stating that while it supports protecting minors, the responsibility for verification should rest with device manufacturers, such as Apple and Google, rather than adult websites.

What does the French law require?

The law, set to take effect Saturday, June 7, requires adult websites to verify users’ ages through measures such as uploading personal IDs, bank cards or facial scans. France’s media regulator, ARCOM, maintains that age verification can be implemented in a privacy-preserving way.

Minister for gender equality Aurore Bergé welcomed the site suspensions, calling them a victory in limiting minors’ exposure to degrading material.

How did users respond?

The shutdown prompted a sharp spike in virtual private network (VPN) usage. ProtonVPN reported a 1,000% increase in registrations within 30 minutes of the site block, surpassing traffic levels seen during past U.S. government efforts to restrict platforms like TikTok.

NordVPN saw a 170% usage jump, and VPN usage in France rose 334% overall on June 4, according to Top10VPN.

What are the broader implications?

France was Pornhub’s second-largest traffic source in 2024 after the United States. The shutdown reflects a growing trend of adult content sites geoblocking regions with strict age verification laws rather than building infrastructure to comply, according to Aylo.

Over a third of Americans now live in states with similar requirements, which have led to similar blocks by Aylo in parts of the U.S.

The European Union is investigating several major porn sites for allegedly failing to protect minors. At the same time, the European Commission is also developing its own age verification app.

Aylo says that laws like these could saddle adult sites with high compliance costs and could, according to the company, threaten the financial viability of the adult industry.

Mathew Grisham (Digital Producer)
contributed to this report.