Figuri › Safety and privacy guides

Age verification laws for adult sites

Safety and privacy guides · last checked 2026-11-13

Until recently, most adult sites asked visitors to click a button confirming they were over 18. That is changing fast. A growing number of countries and US states now require sites to check visitors' ages properly, and some sites have chosen to block whole regions rather than comply. Here is an overview of what is happening and why you may see an age check or a blocked page.

Laws change often and this is a general summary, not legal advice.

United Kingdom

The Online Safety Act requires services that publish or allow pornographic content to use "highly effective" age assurance. Ofcom, the regulator, began enforcing these duties on 25 July 2025. Since then, UK visitors to many adult sites, and to adult sections of social platforms, are asked to prove their age before seeing explicit content. Ofcom can fine services that do not comply.

United States

There is no single federal law. Instead, a growing number of states have passed laws requiring age verification for sites with a substantial amount of adult content.

• Louisiana was first, with a law that took effect in 2023. Many other states followed, including Utah, Texas, Virginia, Mississippi and others.
• In June 2025, the US Supreme Court decided Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, upholding Texas's age-verification law. The ruling makes similar state laws much harder to challenge.
• Aylo, the company behind Pornhub, YouPorn, RedTube and several studio brands, has responded by blocking access to its sites in many of these states instead of collecting ID. Visitors there see a message explaining the block. Other sites comply with verification, and some ignore the laws.

European Union and other countries

• France requires adult sites to verify age under rules enforced by the regulator Arcom, with technical standards that include privacy-preserving methods. Aylo suspended its main sites in France in June 2025 in protest at the requirements.
• The EU's Digital Services Act places extra obligations on very large platforms, including several major adult sites, to assess and reduce risks to minors.
• Other countries, including Australia, Germany and Italy, have their own rules or are developing them. Requirements and enforcement differ widely.

How verification works

Common methods include:

• Facial age estimation: you take a selfie and software estimates your age without identifying you.
• ID document checks: you upload a photo of an ID document, often with a matching selfie.
• Credit card checks: a card in your name is checked, often with a small authorisation that is reversed.
• Mobile operator checks: your phone provider confirms whether the account has age restrictions.
• Digital identity apps and reusable age tokens: you verify once with a trusted provider and share only an "over 18" answer with each site.

Most laws require or encourage sites to use third-party verification providers and not to keep ID images. Before verifying, check who the provider is and read what they keep.

Staying safe around age checks

• Be wary of copycat sites promising content without verification. They are a common malware and fraud source; see staying safe on free sites.
• A genuine age check never asks you to allow notifications or install anything.
• Prefer methods that share the least, such as age estimation or reusable tokens, over uploading ID where you have a choice.

Why some sites in this guide may be unavailable to you

Sites listed on Figuri are third parties. Depending on where you are, a site may ask you to verify your age, show a block message or be unavailable. We list each site once for all visitors and do not offer ways around local rules.

Also in Safety and privacy guides

• Paying privately on adult sitesHow adult purchases appear on bank statements, discreet billing names, prepaid and virtual cards, and keeping receipts out of your main inbox.
• Ethical viewing: consent, piracy and paying creatorsHow to choose adult content made and shared with consent, why stolen re-uploads hurt performers, and how to report content that should not be online.