Pornhub, the world’s largest porn site, has blocked all Australian users and prohibited new Australian account registrations in the wake of the government’s new age-check and online safety laws.
Parent company Aylo, which operates the site as well as RedTube and YouPorn, confirmed it had restricted access to several of its platforms for many Australian visitors on Friday, ahead of the new laws that came into effect today (March 9).
The porn network, which also stopped accepting new Australian account registrations, said in a statement that Aussie users will now be “presented with a safe for work experience when they view our platforms”, per the Sydney Morning Herald.
The spokesperson went on to criticise the new laws, saying it had “evidence” the approach “does not effectively protect minors, and instead creates harms relating to data privacy and exposure to illegal content on non-compliant platforms”.
As of today, Pornhub, the world’s largest porn site, displayed only safe-for-work content on its homepages for Australian users who weren’t logged into an account. Meanwhile, X users reported having to verify their age each time they viewed an explicit post on the platform.
The move is a direct response to the start of the second phase of the government’s under-16s social media ban, which began its rollout in December.
This new tranche, outlined by the eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, focuses more intently on preventing children from explicit content online.
That includes adult content as well as extreme violence or self-harm content, and spans platforms like websites, social media, app stores and AI chatbots.
The legally enforceable laws, like those for the under-16s social media ban, require adult sites to verify individual users’ ages via measures like facial estimation, digital wallets or valid photo identification.
Platforms that don’t comply with age-verification could cop fines of up to $49.5 million per breach.
In the wake of the porn shutouts, VPN apps — which allow users to change which location they’re browsing from — reportedly skyrocketed up the Australian app charts. However, the eSafety commissioner’s office has already warned that VPN apps can be detected and still require age verification.
The government’s push for greater online safety has been criticised by those most affected and some of the targeted platforms, but Grant has consistently defended the laws by arguing children’s emotional and psychological well-being are “at stake”.
“We don’t allow children to walk into bars or bottle shops, adult stores or casinos, but when it comes to online spaces where they are spending a lot of their time, there are no such safeguards,” she said, per 9News.
“These obligations will help prevent exposure to potentially harmful content and direct at-risk children to real, lifesaving support.”
Lead images: Pornhub, Redtube and Youporn
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