British regulator Ofcom is investigating online adult content subscription service OnlyFans for failing to prevent children from accessing pornography through its platform.
Ofcom, the UK's official regulator for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries, said it had grounds to suspect that OnlyFans' parent company, Phoenix International Limited, did not have adequate age verification measures in place.
The regulator also found that Fenix may have provided incomplete or inaccurate information as part of two information request notices issued by Ofcom, one in June 2022 and one in June 2023. We are also investigating whether there is a sex. These requests were intended to inform a planned Ofcom report into how the videos were recorded. Sharing platforms (VSPs) such as OnlyFans protected children from restricted content.
However, Ofcom said:
“…available evidence shows that the information provided by OnlyFans in response to the two notices may not have been complete and accurate, and that the age guarantee measures taken by OnlyFans are in such a way as to protect those under the age of 18. This suggests that it may not have been carried out in a restricted material.
An OnlyFans spokesperson said that in addition to requiring all fans to provide their name and payment card details, the company uses a government-approved age guarantee provider called Yoti. Yoti's “coding configuration issue” led to his error reporting that his age threshold was incorrectly listed as 23 when the company had actually set it for her to be 20. However, the spokesperson stressed that the threshold has always exceeded the legally required age of 18.
“OnlyFans discovered the reporting error and proactively corrected the report to Ofcom,” a spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. “As a leading UK-based and regulated social media platform, OnlyFans works closely with Ofcom to implement and develop best practices for online safety, including the use of age-guaranteed technology. .”
rules
The UK recently introduced new regulations under the Online Safety Act aimed at regulating online speech and media, but these rules will not come into force until later this year. Ofcom therefore said the investigation was carried out under existing regulations (Communications Act 2003), as amended in 2020, and that UK-based VSPs were required to “prevent under-18s from accessing pornographic content”. The law stipulates that “appropriate measures must be taken.”
Ofcom has been the UK's official VSP regulator since 2020.
It is noted that Ofcom's investigation only concerns UK “fans” accessing the OnlyFans platform, rather than the content creators themselves, who are already required to provide identification to verify their identity through the onboarding process. Worth it.