UK Probes Porn Sites for Age-Check Violations in Wake of Online Safety Act
The U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) is investigating whether four companies that operate 34 porn sites are complying with age-verification rules under the Online Safety Act (OSA), the office announced Thursday.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Privacy Daily provides accurate coverage of newsworthy developments in data protection legislation, regulation, litigation, and enforcement for privacy professionals responsible for ensuring effective organizational data privacy compliance.
Under rules effective July 25, sites that allow users to upload pornographic content must use highly effective age-assurance measures to keep children from accessing the content (see Ref:2507290003]). Ofcom has been checking compliance since the rules became effective.
The four companies under investigation are: 8579, AVS Group, Kick Online Entertainment and Trendio, Ofcom said.
The regulator prioritized them based on the risk of harm their services pose and on their user numbers, it added. Together the websites have more than nine million unique monthly U.K. visitors, according to Ofcom.
In addition, Ofcom has probes into 4chan, an online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, First Time Videos and Itai Tech. "We expect to make further enforcement announcements in the coming weeks and months," it said.
If the regulator finds breaches of the act, it can require platforms to take specific steps to comply and impose fines of up to 18 million pounds ($24 million) or 10% of their qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.
In the most serious cases, Ofcom said, it could seek a court order for "business disruption measures" that could include requiring payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from a platform or mandating ISPs to block access to a site in the U.K.