The British regulator Ofcom has fined OnlyFans £1.05 million (€1.2 million) for failing to provide accurate information on how it checks users’ ages. The press service of the UK communications regulator reported this.
Ofcom conducted an investigation into whether the platform did enough to prevent children from accessing pornography on its website and whether it violated UK rules governing video-sharing platforms.
Last month, Ofcom closed this part of the investigation and a related investigation into whether OnlyFans’ parent company, Fenix, cooperated with the regulator. They stated that they would not draw any conclusions on these matters but would continue to work with the platform on measures to control users’ ages.
Ofcom continued its investigation to determine whether Fenix provided incorrect information about user age verification between June 2022 and June 2023.
In 2023, OnlyFans informed the regulator that it was using the Yoti tool to determine age – it was set to detect users under 23 years of age. Later, it turned out that the age threshold was mistakenly set for people under 20. Fenix informed Ofcom about this error only in January 2024, two weeks after it was discovered.
Now, OnlyFans has set the age verification threshold at 21. The company believes this is in accordance with British law.