Pornhub, RedTube, and YouPorn go dark in France over age verification standoff ⁉️🍿

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As of Wednesday, June 4, French internet users can no longer access Pornhub, RedTube, or YouPorn. The blackout stems from a standoff between their parent company, Aylo, and French authorities over increasingly strict online age verification rules.

A bold protest move ⚠️

Aylo, the Canadian group behind the three adult platforms, has taken the sites offline in France as a form of protest. The company is pushing back against a French law requiring porn sites to verify users’ ages using more than just a checkbox. The rules—enforced since 2020—demand robust proof that visitors are over 18.

Aylo argues these requirements are both technically unreliable and deeply intrusive, posing a threat to user privacy. The sites now display a protest message instead of their usual content, accusing the French government of enforcing what it calls “invasive” regulation.

But this isn’t just symbolic. Age verification, Aylo says, threatens the very core of its business model. The company relies on free, easy, and high-volume access to content—revenue comes mostly from ads. Restricting access could tank traffic and, with it, ad income. That’s a big deal in France, Pornhub’s second-largest market globally, with nearly 7 million daily visitors. Cutting that off means a major financial hit.

France’s new digital regulator flexes its muscle 🧾

This clash comes as the French media and digital regulator Arcom gains new enforcement powers under the freshly passed SREN law (Secure and Regulate the Digital Space). Starting June 6, Arcom can order French ISPs to block non-compliant sites—without needing a court order.

To help sites adapt, Arcom published a technical guide outlining methods that aim to block underage users while still preserving privacy. Aylo, however, isn’t convinced.

Not their first rodeo 🌎

This isn’t Aylo’s first shutdown strategy. Over the past two years, the company has pulled the plug on its platforms in multiple U.S. states that passed similar age-check laws.

Aylo believes that age verification shouldn’t be the responsibility of individual websites. Instead, it argues that operating systems and browsers—from the likes of Apple, Google, and Microsoft—should handle it at the device level.

The controversy adds to Aylo’s already complicated legacy. Formerly known as MindGeek, the company has been tied to numerous scandals involving poor content moderation, including illegal uploads, revenge porn, and pirated videos. In 2023, it was acquired by Canadian investment firm Ethical Capital Partners, which says it wants to clean up the company’s image and bring transparency to the adult industry.

So what do you think—should stricter age checks come at the cost of blocking entire platforms? Let us know in the comments.