Porn company receives £1m fine for insufficient age verification

Regulator Ofcom has imposed a 1 million fine on AVS Group Ltd for failing to implement strong age verification measures, marking the largest penalty issued under the Online Safety Act to date. The legislation requires websites hosting adult content to have rigorous systems in place to stop minors from accessing explicit material.

AVS Group, which operates 18 adult websites, did not meet the required standards, resulting in the 1 million fine along with an additional 50,000 for not responding to regulator requests. The company now has 72 hours to establish robust age checks or face an extra 1,000 daily penalty.

Ofcom described the fine as evidence that online safety regulations are beginning to take effect. Oliver Griffiths, director of Ofcom's online safety group, noted that recent measures on various platforms have improved child protection, but he emphasized that technology companies must do more in the coming year, or they will face full enforcement actions.

The Online Safety Act is being introduced in stages and aims to end previous practices where online platforms were "unregulated, unaccountable, and often prioritized profits over user safety."

In addition to AVS Group, Ofcom revealed that a major social media platform is currently undergoing compliance checks and may face further action if improvements are not sufficient, though the company has not been named.

New age verification rules for adult sites took effect in July, though some users have bypassed them using virtual private networks (VPNs). Since the measures were implemented, Pornhub's parent company reported a 77% drop in UK traffic.

Ofcom has already fined other companies for inadequate age verification, including deepfake applications. Some platforms, such as the online forum 4Chan, have refused to pay fines issued for noncompliance.

Additional regulations introduced this year aim to make the internet safer for women and girls, with Ofcom committed to publicly identifying noncompliant platforms. Critics argue that the Online Safety Act should be strengthened to provide even greater protection, particularly for female users.

Author: Chloe Ramirez