11 hours ago
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Laura CressTechnology reporter
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Ofcom has fined a porn company £1.35m for failing to introduce proper age verification measures on its websites.
The media regulator said 8579 LLC's sites did not have "highly effective" methods to check UK visitors were over 18 and prevent children accessing the content.
The fine - Ofcom's largest levied under the Online Safety Act (OSA) so far - comes after it began probing the firm "within days" of age check rules taking effect in July 2025.
8579 LLC has also been fined a further £50,000 for not responding to Ofcom's information requests.
According to Ofcom, the company failed to implement highly effective age checks on most of its porn sites between 25 July and at least 19 November 2025.
The regulator says 8579 LLC must implement robust methods to check UK visitors are over 18 on one remaining site before 17:00 GMT on Monday, or face an additional £1,000 daily penalty.
George Lusty, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said it had "been clear" adult sites needed to deploy robust age checks to protect children in the UK form seeing porn.
"Those that fail to do this – or ignore legally binding requests from us – should expect to face fines," he added.
The regulator is also requiring 8579 LLC to provide Ofcom with a complete list of all sites it operates, after failing to respond to the regulator's information requests.
It risks a further additional daily fine of £250 if it does not comply.
Ofcom has already launched probes into many porn sites lacking age checks and handed down decisions, including fines, for some.
Ofcom later said AVS had rolled out age checks on some of its porn sites.
Aylo, Pornhub's parent company, said the OSA had "not achieved its goal of protecting minors".
It also said the law had "diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet".
The Act is a set of laws and duties online platforms must follow, that are implemented and enforced by Ofcom.
Under its Children's Codes, platforms must also prevent young people from encountering harmful content relating to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders and pornography.
