ATVOD Proposes to License Adult Sites for Age Verification

LONDON ­­ — ATVOD, the U.K. regulator of video-on-demand services, says it wants to further regulate adult entertainment websites.

ATVOD CEO Pete Johnson told the BBC this week that the plan would allow the agency to license sexually explicit sites — but only if they have age-verification checks in place.

With the proposal, processors would be forbidden to handle credit and debit card fees for premium services, such as high-definition content, from U.K. citizens to sites that aren’t registered and licensed by ATVOD.

"We're a very substantial market and to access the money that's flowing from the U.K. would be quite a powerful incentive to introduce restrictions," Johnson told the BBC.

Johnson said the issue over licensing adult sites was so urgent that it was "critical the legislation is enacted during this Parliament" before the next general election.

ATVOD, to back up its demand to change U.K. law, commissioned market research firm Nielsen Netview to install equipment that monitored the online habits of 45,000 users over the course of a month.  

The Nielsen Netview survey indicated that over one month:

  • Six percent of children aged 15 years or younger had accessed an adult website;
  • Five percent of visitors to such sites had been under-18;
  • One website alone, MindGeek’s PornHub.com, had been visited by 112,000 boys in the U.K. aged between 12- and 17-years-old;
  • Of the wider population, 23 percent of those who had used the net over the month had visited an adult site; and,
  • Visitors to adult sites spent an average of 15 minutes looking at them during each visit and typically clocked up two-and-a-half hours of time in total over the month.

ATVOD already forces U.K.-based sites to carry out age-verification checks before explicit VOD can be viewed online and on TV. The agency, through its parent agency, Ofcom, has the ability to demand fines against violators.

But the agency maintains that it is hamstrung because the majority of sexually explicit material available online is rooted overseas and that it has no control over it.

"Our argument is that even if you reduce the number of children who are accessing hardcore pornography online by 10 percent that would be a significant win," an ATVOD official told the BBC.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Texas Resumes AV Lawsuit Against Aylo Following SCOTUS Decision

A district court judge in Texas has unfrozen the state’s $1.6 million lawsuit against Aylo for allegedly failing to comply with age verification requirements, Bloomberg Law is reporting.

JuicyAds Wins Trademark Infringement Case Against Fraudulent Domain

JuicyAds has won its World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) case against a website using a similar domain to impersonate the company's site and defraud customers.

Anissa Kate, Jordan Starr Top AEBN for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top-selling stars for the second quarter of 2025, with Anissa Kate landing atop the leaderboard for straight theaters and Jordan Starr heading up the gay rankings.

AEBN Reveals Eva Maxim as Top Trans Star for Q2 of 2025

AEBN has published its top trans stars list for the second quarter of 2025, with Eva Maxim landing atop the leaderboard.

France Reinstates Age Verification Rule for EU Sites

France’s highest court, the Council of State, on Tuesday reinstated age verification rules for EU-based sites under the country’s Security and Regulation of the Digital Space (SREN) law, ruling in favor of the French government and against Hammy Media.

Whisper Fans Joins Pineapple Support as Supporter-Level Sponsor

Whisper Fans has joined the ranks of over 70 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

Utherverse Launches 'Red Light Center' Virtual World

Virtual reality and metaverse technology company Utherverse has launched its new virtual world, RedLightCenter.io.

European Commission Approves AV Guidelines, Unveils Prototype App

The European Commission on Monday released its final, approved guidelines for protecting minors online under the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) and made public a “white label” age verification app intended to help sites and platforms comply with age verification rules under the DSA.

Show More