Ofcom Fines Porn Sites for AV Noncompliance

LONDON—Ofcom, the United Kingdom's digital regulator, announced today that it will be fining a network of 18 pornography websites owned by a company called AVS Group Ltd. The fine is over £1 million (over $1.3 million) and is tied to failures to comply with age verification requirements under the Online Safety Act. An additional £50,000 ($66,633.25) was imposed as a fine for failing to respond to Ofcom's information requests, the regulator notes. "Within days of this duty coming into force in July, Ofcom launched investigations into the providers of dozens of adult sites, including AVS Group Ltd," said Ofcom. "With millions of monthly UK visitors, these websites were prioritised based on their user numbers and the risk of harm they posed." The sites owned by AVS Group are cloned from a central script supported by an ad network called Tube Corporate, AVN learned via previous reporting. In response to compliance demands, AVS deployed website age verification, but Ofcom found the measures unsatisfactory against its standards. "While AVS has implemented what it refers to as age verification, we do not consider it to be highly effective, and have fined the company £1,000,000," notes the Ofcom announcement. "AVS must now implement highly effective age assurance within 72 hours of today’s decision, or face a daily penalty of £1,000 per day."