The leader of online pornography, which has already taken similar actions in several US states, announced for the first time it was suspending access to its content in a European country. The announcement comes after years of political and legal battles.

Aylo, a company owned by Canadian investment fund Ethical Capital Partners, said it was suspending access to content for French users on its three main sites: Pornhub, RedTube and YouPorn. The decision was officially motivated by a refusal to comply with a series of laws passed in France since 2020 requiring publishers of pornographic websites to implement age verification tools for visitors. Under French law, it is no longer enough simply to ask users to click a button stating, "I am over 18." In several US states where similar laws have been enacted, Pornhub has already protested by shutting down access in the same way.

The decision means Aylo has chosen to confront the government before potentially facing a forced shutdown. The announcement came just days before the date at which France's audiovisual and digital communications regulator, ARCOM, could start to issue formal notices and impose sanctions, including site blocking, against Pornhub and any other pornographic websites that do not comply with the laws.

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