UK fines porn company £1.35 million for lack of age checks

UK communications regulator Ofcom has fined the porn company 8579 LLC £1.35 million for not installing age checks, thus not complying with the Online Safety Act. Ofcom has also fined it an additional £50,000 for failing to respond to an information request.

The Online Safety Act went into effect in July 2025, requiring porn sites to have robust age assurance, such as with a credit card or facial recognition scan, going beyond the typical "yes or no" checkbox to verify someone is of age.

According to Ofcom's investigation into 8579 LLC, its websites — such as crazyporn.xxx, hoes.tube, and love4porn.com — don't have these robust age checks.

"We've been clear that adult sites must deploy robust age checks to protect children in the UK from seeing porn," Ofcom's director of enforcement, George Lusty, stated in the press release. "Those that fail to do this — or ignore legally binding requests from us — should expect to face fines."

Ofcom has also investigated and fined other porn providers, like Kick Online Entertainment, which it fined £800,000. Last year, Ofcom threatened to fine and/or block controversial U.S. sites 4chan and Kiwi Farms for not implementing age checks. Now those sites are suing Ofcom, claiming they shouldn't have to comply as they're based in the United States.

In addition to finding non-compliant websites, people can avoid UK age checks using VPNs (virtual private networks). VPN usage has more than doubled since the law went into effect, to the point that the UK government is now weighing a VPN ban for children.

Pornhub, arguably the most well-known porn site, initially complied with the Online Safety Act. Towards the end of January, however, its parent company, Aylo, announced it would no longer comply due to these workarounds — both non-compliant sites and VPNs — and now blocks itself in the UK, aside from adults who have verified their age before February 2.