Ofcom investigates adult platforms under Online Safety Act age-check rules

Ofcom has opened investigations into the providers of pimpbunny.com and kemono.cr to assess their compliance with age-check rules under the UK’s Online Safety Act.

The regulator said pornography services must use ‘highly effective’ age checks to determine whether users are over 18 before allowing access to pornographic material. The investigations will examine whether there are reasonable grounds to believe the providers have failed, or are failing, to comply with those duties.

Ofcom said it prioritised action against the providers based on the risk of harm posed by their services. The regulator took account of user numbers, including significant increases in traffic since age-check laws came into force last summer.

Separately, Ofcom has issued a provisional decision concerning fapello.com, saying it has reasonable grounds to believe the provider is in breach of its duties under the Online Safety Act. Fapello can make representations before Ofcom reaches a final decision.

Ofcom also expanded its ongoing investigation into XGroovy to examine whether it failed to respond adequately to formal information requests from the regulator. The developments form part of wider UK enforcement efforts around online child safety, age assurance and platform accountability under the Online Safety Act.

Why does it matter?

The investigations show that Ofcom is moving from guidance to enforcement under the UK’s Online Safety Act, particularly for services hosting pornographic material. Age assurance has become a central test of the UK’s child online safety regime, with regulators assessing not only whether platforms have age checks in place, but whether those checks are effective enough to prevent children from readily accessing explicit content.

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