Ofcom hits porn firm with record £1m fine over weak age checks
The regulator found that AVS Group Ltd, which operates 18 pornography websites, had not introduced what it considers “highly effective age assurance”
UK media regulator Ofcom has imposed a £1m fine on an adult content company for failing to put strong age checks in place, its largest penalty so far under the Online Safety Act.
The regulator found that AVS Group Ltd, which operates 18 pornography websites, had not introduced what it considers “highly effective age assurance” to stop children from easily accessing explicit material, as now required by law.
In addition to the £1m sanction, Ofcom has fined the firm a further £50,000 for not responding properly to formal requests for information. The company has been ordered to implement robust age-verification measures within 72 hours or face an ongoing penalty of £1,000 per day.
The announcement came alongside a disclosure that one “major social media company” is currently working with Ofcom’s enforcement team on a remediation plan. The platform was not named, but the regulator said it was prepared to take formal action if it did not see sufficient progress.
Ofcom said the case signalled that online safety rules were starting to have practical impact. Oliver Griffiths, the regulator’s online safety group director, said that while many sites and apps had already made changes that better protect children from harmful material, technology companies would be expected to go further in the coming year, and that Ofcom would not hesitate to use its full powers where firms fell short.
The watchdog has begun issuing penalties to other companies that have failed to introduce effective age checks, including operators of so-called deepfake “nudify” tools. By contrast, the online message board 4Chan has so far not complied with a £20,000 fine issued earlier in the year.
The Online Safety Act is being rolled out in stages and is intended to curb practices that, according to Ofcom, left major platforms “unregulated, unaccountable and often unwilling to prioritise people’s safety over profits”.
Stricter age-assurance requirements for pornographic websites took effect in July. Some critics have pointed out that such measures can be bypassed using virtual private networks (VPNs), which route internet traffic through other countries.
