Media watchdog Ofcom has opened an investigation into whether adult content site Onlyfans is doing enough to prevent children from viewing pornography on its platform in the UK.
Under existing regulations, video-sharing platforms established in the UK are required to “take appropriate measures” to stop under-18s from accessing pornographic material.
“Having reviewed submissions we received from Onlyfans in response to formal information requests, we have grounds to suspect the platform did not implement its age verification measures in such a way as to sufficiently protect under-18s from pornographic material,” the regulator said on Wednesday.
“We are also investigating whether Onlyfans failed to comply with its duties to provide complete and accurate information in response to these statutory requests,” it added.
An Onlyfans Spokeswoman said: “As the leading UK-based and regulated social media platform, Onlyfans works closely with Ofcom to implement and develop best-practices on online safety, including the use of age-assurance technology.
“In addition to requiring that all users provide their name and payment card details, Onlyfans uses the government-approved age-assurance provider Yoti. A coding configuration issue with Yoti led to a reporting error which stated a threshold was set to 23 years-of-age, during a period of time when it had been set to 20. (always higher than the requirement of 18).
“Onlyfans discovered the reporting error and proactively amended our report to Ofcom.”
The probe, which only relates to UK-based users of Onlyfans, does not impact any content creators, who must provide evidence of their date of birth on their government-issued ID to join the site.
Ofcom expects to provide an update on its investigation by August 2024.
The Online Safety Act, which became law in October 2023, has introduced new criminal offences and tougher rules over the protection of children online. It has designated Ofcom as the regulator for online safety, granting it new powers to enforce the Act.