2026-07-10 13:03:27
Ofcom has fined a porn site company £630,000 for not properly checking the age of its users.
The watchdog has taken action against the company behind Fapello, saying the firm hadn’t introduced the required checks or responded to requests for more information.
George Lusty, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said: “Age checks are no longer options for porn sites in the UK.
“They are a cornerstone of our laws to protect children from content they should not be seeing.”
Since July 2025, sites which allow adult content including pornography have been required to use “highly effective” age checks to ensure all UK visitors are aged 18 or older.
Ofcom, which announced its ruling on Thursday (09.07.26), started investigating the operator in November.
The company was fined £600k for not introducing age check measures, while the remaining £30k of the fine is for not responding to requests for information on time.
Lusty added: “Providers also need to know that if they don’t supply accurate information to us on time, when we request it, they should expect to face enforcement action, including fines.”
The site has since blocked UK visitors, but Ofcom will still continue to monitor the platform to ensure continued compliance.
Ofcom also announced this week that the organisation is investigating porn provider Bit Hive over concerns one of its age check methods “may not be highly effective”.
Ofcom has laid out several methods sites can use to verify users’ ages, including photo ID matching, a selfie to estimate age, and credit cards checks.
A company must ensure that whichever format they choose, they are “technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair”.
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