Last month, Pornhub terminated its operations in France due to the forthcoming age-verification legislation. Following the suspension of this law, Pornhub began services once more but has now restricted access again. The French legislation mandates that adult websites utilize a third-party system for age verification, ensuring that the site remains unaware of the visitor’s age, and that the system is oblivious to the site being visited.

On June 16, the Paris Administrative Court suspended the law, referencing EU regulations. However, on July 15, the Council of State revoked this suspension. Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube, declared it would once again cease operations in France.

Aylo communicated that while the execution of the law is being reviewed, French citizens merit effective regulations to stop minors from accessing adult material while also safeguarding privacy and sensitive information. The company contends that continuous age verification threatens privacy and pushes minors towards non-compliant websites.

Aylo raised concerns to the French government and Arcom regarding the law’s efficacy in protecting minors, requesting data on diminished access to unsuitable content. Advocates for free speech echo worries that age-verification sites are ineffective, can be easily circumvented with VPNs, and introduce privacy hazards. Proton VPN recorded a 1,000 percent surge in sign-ups in France following the initial block.

Aylo proposes the implementation of device-level filters to restrict minors’ access. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas’s age-verification statute, which may spark similar laws elsewhere. Pornhub has blocked itself in the majority of states with such regulations. The UK’s age-verification law is set to take effect on July 25, and Pornhub will comply in that region.