Ofcom has fined the operator of a pornography website £630,000 for failing to correctly examine the ages of its customers.
Websites permitting grownup content material, together with porn, have had to make use of “extremely efficient” age assurance to verify UK guests are 18 or older since July 2025.
However Ofcom, which enforces these necessities, mentioned the corporate behind porn website Fapello had not launched any checks – nor replied to its requests for data.
“Age checks are not non-obligatory for porn websites within the UK,” mentioned George Lusty, director of enforcement at Ofcom.
“They’re a cornerstone of our legal guidelines to guard youngsters from content material they shouldn’t be seeing.”
The regulator opened an investigation into the porn website operator in November.
On Thursday, Ofcom mentioned it had fined the corporate £600,000 for not introducing strategies to examine the age of customers.
After it didn’t reply to its requests for data, Ofcom handed down an extra £30,000 penalty.
“Suppliers additionally must know that if they do not provide correct data to us on time, once we request it, they need to count on to face enforcement motion, together with fines,” added Lusty.
Whereas the positioning has since blocked UK guests, the regulator says it can proceed to watch its compliance.
