Ofcom fines porn company £1.35m over age check failings
Source: BBC Technology
Ofcom fines porn company £1.35 million over age‑check failings
Ofcom has fined 8579 LLC £1.35 million for failing to introduce proper age‑verification measures on its websites. The regulator said the company’s sites did not have “highly effective” methods to check that UK visitors were over 18 and to prevent children from accessing the content.
Details of the fine
- The £1.35 million penalty is the largest fine levied under the Online Safety Act (OSA) to date.
- An additional £50,000 was imposed for the company’s failure to respond to Ofcom’s information requests.
- The regulator requires 8579 LLC to implement robust age‑check methods on one remaining site by 17:00 GMT on Monday; otherwise, an extra £1,000 daily penalty will apply.
- If the company does not provide a complete list of all sites it operates, it faces a further daily fine of £250.
Regulatory background
- The investigation began within days of the age‑check rules taking effect in July 2025.
- Ofcom has launched probes into many porn sites lacking adequate age checks and has issued fines in other cases, as reported in a BBC article on related fines.
- Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must also protect young people from harmful content related to suicide, self‑harm, eating disorders, and pornography through the Children’s Codes.
Statements from Ofcom
George Lusty, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said it had “been clear” that adult sites needed to deploy robust age checks to protect children in the UK from seeing porn. He added that sites that fail to comply or ignore legally binding requests should expect to face fines.
Company response
Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, argued that the OSA “has not achieved its goal of protecting minors” and claimed the law has “diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet.”
The Online Safety Act is a set of duties that online platforms must follow, implemented and enforced by Ofcom.