LONDON — U.K. communications regulator Ofcom said in a statement Thursday that providers of online pornography are implementing age assurance across “thousands of sites” accessible in the U.K., in response to Ofcom’s Online Safety Act (OSA) enforcement program.
“Earlier this year, Ofcom wrote to hundreds of providers, collectively covering thousands of sites that publish their own pornographic content, informing them of their new obligations under Part 5 of the Online Safety Act to implement highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing this material,” the statement reads. “So far, we have had positive engagement from across the sector and a number of providers have implemented highly effective age assurance in response to our enforcement programme.”
Ofcom did not reveal what providers the agency contacted, or list sites that have committed to, or are already implementing, age assurance measures.
An Ofcom rep told XBIZ, “At this stage, we are unable to provide further details about specific providers or sites, but our statement reflects direct engagement with sites and compliance plans submitted to us, which have been or will be verified as part of our programme.”
The statement also notes that Ofcom is assessing the age assurance measures of providers who have not responded.
“Services that have not responded or implemented age assurance will be passed to our enforcement team for further action,” the Ofcom rep told XBIZ.
Issuance of guidelines and enforcement actions under the OSA have been slowly ramping up since the law took effect in 2023. Ofcom released its age assurance guidelines in January, and has performed various forms of outreach to make information available to adult sites and platforms.
