PORNHUB IS BACK, BABY!... but only for Apple users

I confess, I have a rather X-rated late-night habit.

When sleep evades me, I reach for my phone. Then, bathed in the blue light of that tiny screen, I furiously finger the keyboard, typing in my destination. When the mood strikes, time really is of the essence.

There’s the browsing. The anticipation. The growing conviction that somewhere, just one more scroll away, is something that will finally satisfy me.

Eventually, after flicking through page after page of things I probably shouldn’t be looking at, I find myself deep in the annals of, ahem, online late-night shopping.

Usually vases. Occasionally storage products. Once, a deeply ill-advised ornate mirror.

Don’t look at me like that. Everyone has their own method of release. Mine comes with a tracking number and buyer’s remorse.

For Australians whose nocturnal browsing takes them somewhere other than the homewares clearance section, however, there’s news: Pornhub is back.

The site’s parent company, Aylo, announced on Wednesday it was restoring access in Australia after withdrawing in March over age-verification requirements.

But this comeback comes with a condition. Only adults with Apple devices who have completed Apple’s age checks can access the site.

Proof of age before pleasure. Even late-night habits have admin now.

An Apple a day

Apple recently introduced age checks in Australia after rolling them out in the UK. Users can confirm they are over 18 using a credit card, passport, driver’s licence or government-issued ID.

For Aylo, the attraction is where that verification happens: on the device, rather than separately through each website.

The company has long argued that this approach better protects both children and adults’ privacy. One age check, rather than repeatedly handing over personal information whenever a different site asks.

Aylo said Apple had “set a benchmark” by making child safety features the default unless device owners confirmed they were adults.

That makes “every phone or tablet kid-safe as a starting point,” the company said.

Aylo’s vice-president of brand and community, Alex Kekesi, said the approach reflected what the company had been advocating.

“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,” Kekesi said.

Australians using Apple devices that have completed the checks will be “served a standard adult user experience”, she said.

A rather corporate way of announcing that normal programming has resumed.

READ MORE: Australians to be restricted from four major pornography websites

READ MORE: UK users can access porn again after ban lifted - but not all of them

Why Pornhub pulled out

Australia introduced stricter age-verification requirements in March for access to adult content, including pornography, R-rated video games and sexually explicit AI chatbots.

The country’s online safety regulator said the changes would protect children from harmful material, with platforms facing fines for breaches.

Critics raised concerns about data privacy and users finding ways to fool verification systems, including those relying on facial recognition, digital IDs and credit card details.

Aylo withdrew Pornhub from the Australian market in response. It argued that the requirements would not protect children and would instead create privacy risks while driving users towards platforms that did not comply.

Its return follows Apple’s introduction of the device-based checks it favours.

Kekesi said default child safety features meant adults would not have to “surrender unnecessary personal information to multiple apps and websites”.

A VPN won’t necessarily do the trick

Kekesi also said device-based checks limited the usefulness of virtual private networks, or VPNs, for circumventing age restrictions.

VPNs can make a website believe someone is browsing from another country. Verifying age through the device, she argued, reduces the usefulness of that geographical sleight of hand.

For now, Pornhub’s Australian comeback has a particular admission policy: adults who have completed Apple’s checks.

As for me, there’s a floor lamp sitting in a shopping cart that isn’t going to purchase itself.