Ofcom has fined the adult content group Youngtek Solutions £600,000 for inadequate age verification in the latest action made since its powers from the Online Safety Act came into force.
An investigation which took place in the second half of last year has found that across the four sites run by the company, Youngtek failed to comply with the requirement that digital spaces hosting adult content use strict age checks to prevent children from accessing them.
The fine is composed of an initial £500,000 for the regulatory breach and £100,000 for failing to respond to a formal request for information.
The company has since implemented age assurance practices.
“Adult sites must use robust age checks to protect children in the UK from porn online, and we’ve shown we will use the full extent of our enforcement powers to secure this outcome,” said George Lusty, director of enforcement at Ofcom.
“Any company that fails to comply – or misses important deadlines when we demand information – can expect to pay the price.”
This marks the latest fine imposed under the Online Safety Act, which aims to prevent young people from accessing harmful content as well as ensuring as best as possible that digital spaces are safe.
Ofcom previously issued a fine of £1.35m to a group called 8579 LLC for similarly failing to age gate adult content.
