Porn websites aren't doing enough to protect the children, says Ofcom

Ofcom has said that adult video-sharing websites are not taking enough action to protect children from viewing their content. It named OnlyFans as one service that has introduced age verification, but said other websites are not doing enough. Most of the regulator’s concern falls on smaller UK-based adult sites which don’t have measures in place to protect children.

While the Online Safety Bill is still set to be approved, Ofcom said it has powers now to ask video-sharing platforms to share which measures they are using to protect users from “harmful videos”. It has gathered related information from TikTok, Snapchat, Twitch, Vimeo, OnlyFans, Bitchute and several smaller sites including adult websites.

Ofcom said that the smaller adult websites have basic verification measures in place that only require users to self-declare that they are over 18. An unnamed platform told Ofcom that it had considered age verification but decided against implementing this as it would reduce the profitability of the business.

Going forward, Ofcom says that adult websites, which it already regulates, will need to develop roadmaps to implementing tough age verification measures. It said a failure to do this will result in enforcement action by the regulator.

While some will see this as nannying by Ofcom, the regulator highlighted new research that it has published today which finds 80% of people believe internet users should be required to verify their age when accessing porn online, especially when accessing websites dedicated to that type of content.