Ofcom Slaps 1M Pound Fine on Porn Site for Ineffective Age Verification
The U.K. Office of Communications fined porn site operator AVS Group 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) for its lack of strong age checks, plus another 50,000 pounds ($66,000) for failing to respond to the regulator's information request, it said Thursday. An operator of 18 adult sites, AVS faces a daily penalty of 300 pounds ($400) from today "until it responds or for 60 days, whichever is sooner," Ofcom added.
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Under the U.K. Online Safety Act, sites that host pornographic content must use "highly effective age assurance" to keep children from accessing the material. That rule took effect in July, and within days, Ofcom began investigating providers of dozens of adult sites, including AVS, it said. Websites were prioritized based on user numbers and the risk of harm they posed, it added.
AVS "has implemented what it refers to as age verification", but Ofcom deemed it not highly effective, the watchdog said. The company has 72 hours to implement effective age assurance or face fines of 1,000 pounds per day.
The Age Verification Assurance Providers applauded the move. "Given the lack of any engagement with the regulator, and the fact that AVS appears to be based in Belize, this may soon be the first opportunity to apply real teeth of the Online Safety Act where Ofcom has the power to require the withdrawal of critical business services from non-compliant sites."
Ofcom also published research showing that 58% of parents believed the measures in its codes of practice are already boosting the safety of U.K. kids online. So far, the regulator said, it has opened investigations into 92 online services and fined three providers, and some high-risk sites are no longer available to U.K. IP addresses.
"The tide on online safety is beginning to turn for the better," said Online Safety Group Director Oliver Griffiths. "But we need to see much more from tech companies next year and we’ll use our full powers if they fall short.”