LONDON—Ofcom, the United Kingdom's digital regulator, announced Wednesday that it has initiated investigations into two more adult websites to determine whether they comply with the age verification requirements set out in the country's sweeping Online Safety Act.
The agency said it is investigating www.pimpbunny.com and www.kemono.cr to determine if the sites' ownership deployed "highly effective" age checks.
"Robust age checks are a cornerstone of the Online Safety Act," a press statement from Ofcom reads. "Sites that host pornographic material must use ‘highly effective’ age checks to determine whether a particular user is over 18, in order to prevent children from readily accessing that content."
Under the Online Safety Act, "highly effective age assurance" measures are defined as including AI-assisted age estimation, identity verification and a series of hybrid approaches to ensure the highest possible level of accuracy in detecting and deterring underage users. The investigations additionally come at a time when age verification technology has fallen under scrutiny amid research and analysis revealing that minors with fake moustaches can beat age-estimation scans, multiple reports indicate.
"We have prioritised action against these providers based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operate," Ofcom added. "We have taken particular account of their user numbers, including where we have seen significant increases in their user traffic since age-check laws came into force last summer."
Additionally, Ofcom indicated that it has updates on its enforcement investigations of platforms www.fapello.com and adult tube site www.xgroovy.com. It published a decision on fapello.com, stating that it found the platform breached age verification and online safety requirements under the Online Safety Act. The agency is additionally expanding its investigation into xgroovy based on evidence that the site appears to be failing to comply with statutory formal information requests related to online safety and age assurance efforts.
