LONDON — Adult content provider AVS Group has begun to institute robust age checks on some of its websites after U.K. media regulator Ofcom last week imposed a penalty of approximately $1.3 million for noncompliance with Online Safety Act regulations, the BBC is reporting.
The BBC report quotes an Ofcom spokesperson as saying that AVS Group has now implemented on some of its websites age assurance “capable of being highly effective at correctly determining whether or not a user is a child.” However, the spokesperson also told the BBC that the company could still face more fines until Ofcom is “satisfied” with changes across all of the platforms cited in the agency’s investigation.
As XBIZ reported last week, Ofcom imposed on AVS Group a penalty of 1 million pounds, or approximately $1.3 million, after an investigation concluded that the company had failed to implement robust age checks on 18 adult websites. The agency stated that a number of AVS Group websites either did not implement age assurance measures or implemented measures that Ofcom does not deem “highly effective.”
Ofcom’s enforcement powers include imposing even larger fines — up to 18 million pounds or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue — as well as seeking a court order requiring payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from a platform, or even requiring ISPs to block access to a site in the U.K.
Update: On Dec. 17, Ofcom confirmed that AVS Group has now introduced a new age assurance process on all sites that were the subject of the agency's investigation.