Overview
- AVS Group Ltd, which operates 18 adult websites, was fined £1 million for inadequate age checks and £50,000 for failing to supply information.
- Ofcom gave the company 72 hours to implement effective age assurance or face £1,000 in daily penalties, with an additional £300 per day until it responds to information requests for up to 60 days.
- Regulators cited weak measures such as the absence of liveness checks, saying AVS’s system did not meet the ‘highly effective’ standard required under the Online Safety Act.
- This is Ofcom’s third fine under the new regime and its largest to date, following a £20,000 penalty issued to 4chan in October.
- Ofcom says it has opened 92 investigations, warned an unnamed major social platform over poor compliance, and reported wider uptake of age checks across top adult sites and major apps, alongside early data showing more children are encountering age gates.