Ofcom hits suicide forum with £950k fine and probes porn sites under OSA

Ofcom has announced two pieces of news today in relation to the Online Safety Act (OSA). First, it has said two new porn websites are being investigated for failing to comply with age-check rules. Secondly, it said that it has fined an online suicide forum £950,000 for still being available to UK users without a VPN.

Regarding the two porn sites that Ofcom has begun investigating, pimpbunny.com and kemono.cr, they lack highly effective age checks to determine if a user is over 18. These age checks are designed to prevent children accessing the websites easily, but both of these sites have neglected to implement such checks.

Ofcom says it has prioritized these two websites based on their user numbers and the significant increase in traffic since the age check laws were introduced last summer. The regulator said it has also come to a provisional decision on fapello.com, which it thinks is failing in its duties under the OSA, but said it can “make representations to Ofcom” which will be considered before a final decision is made.

Separately, Ofcom said it had fined an unnamed online suicide forum £950,000 for failing to block access to UK users. The forum is allegedly linked to 130 UK deaths, being cited in multiple coroners' reports regarding the deaths of UK citizens.

It said that the forum has content with the intent of assist suicide and includes practical or instructional information on suicide methods. Encouraging or assisting in suicide is illegal in the UK and platforms are required to remove this content when they learn about it.

Ofcom added that the unnamed forum is failing to comply with its duties and has subsequently been fined. With that said, the forum owner has tried to block access in the UK but Ofcom is not happy that users can still access it via a proxy website. It said the forum has ten working days to come into compliance, failing that, Ofcom will try to get a court order requiring ISPs block access to the site in the UK.