Ofcom investigates 34 pornography sites under new age-check rules
The regulator said it prioritised the companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operated and their user numbers.
Collectively, the websites had over nine million unique monthly UK visitors, Ofcom said.
The new cases add to Ofcom's 11 investigations already in progress into 4chan, an online suicide forum, seven file-sharing services, First Time Videos LLC and Itai Tech Ltd.
Ofcom said it expected to make further enforcement announcements in the coming months.
New online safety protections for children came into force on July 25.
Since that date, so-called 'risky' sites and apps have been expected to use what the regulator has described as highly effective age checks to identify which users are children and subsequently prevent them from accessing pornography, as well as other harmful content including self-harm, suicide, eating disorders and extreme violence.
In a statement, Ofcom said: 'Where we identify compliance failures, we can require platforms to take specific steps to come into compliance.
🚩 We are investigating four companies, who collectively run 34 porn sites, on whether they have put in place age checks to protect children.
These new cases add to the 11 online safety investigations already in progress.
➡️Find out more: https://t.co/jDFI2UAoWr pic.twitter.com/OG585ptvNE
— Ofcom (@Ofcom) July 31, 2025
'We can also impose fines of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.
'Where appropriate, in the most serious cases, we can seek a court order for business disruption measures, such as requiring payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from a platform, or requiring internet service providers to block access to a site in the UK.'
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: 'I strongly welcome this speedy and decisive action from Ofcom. This enforcement goes to the very heart of what the Online Safety Act is here to do – protecting children from pornographic material.
'No-one in their right mind would think it appropriate for a child to walk into a shop and freely buy a top shelf magazine – so why should we allow them to freely wander on to a website offering the same, if not more disturbing, age-inappropriate content?
'These laws have nothing to do with censorship or policing adults seeking to access legal content. Those who suggest otherwise are playing politics with child safety and have no practical alternatives for protecting our children from content they should never see – content that can cause lasting, even fatal, damage.'
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