Pornhub returns to Australia but only for adults with Apple devices

Pornhub has returned to Australia, eight months after it went dark due to age verification laws, but only adults with Apple devices will be able to access the site.

On Wednesday, parent company Aylo said it was restoring access for "eligible adult users in Australia" who have "confirmed their age through Apple's Australian age-verification process".

The world's biggest porn site left the Australian market in March, saying new laws requiring users to prove they were over 18 would not protect children and "instead creates harms relating to data privacy" and exposure to content on non-compliant platforms.

Apple recently introduced new age checks in Australia, following a rollout in the UK.

In March, Australia introduced stricter laws requiring users to prove they were over 18 in order to access adult content such as porn, R-rated video games and sexually explicit AI chatbots.

The country's online safety regulator said the changes would protect children from harmful content and platforms would be fined for breaches.

Critics said there would be issues with data privacy and users finding ways to trick age-verification technologies such as facial recognition, digital IDs and credit card details.

Aylo said it was returning to Australia as Apple has "set a benchmark" by setting default child safety features on all devices unless owners confirmed they are adults.

This, in effect, makes "every phone or tablet kid-safe as a starting point," it said.

"For years, Aylo has advocated for device-based age verification as the most effective and privacy-protecting approach to help prevent minors from accessing age-inappropriate content online," said Aylo's vice-president of brand and community Alex Kekesi.

Australians with Apple devices that have been "age-verified" will be "served a standard adult users experience", she said.

Apple users can prove they are over 18 using a credit card, their passport, a driver's license or a government-issued ID.

Kekesi added that having devices with child safety features as a default meant adults don't have to "surrender unnecessary personal information to multiple apps and websites".

It also limits the usefulness of virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent age-verification technologies, she said.

VPNs are commonly used to trick a site into thinking a user is logging on from another country, giving the user access to the site.