In recent weeks, Ofcom has announced three investigations into compliance by adult content services with the Online Safety Act (OSA). The three providers (Itai Tech Ltd, Score Internet Group LLC and Kick Online Entertainment S.A) all failed to provide, when asked by Ofcom (the regulator for the OSA) evidence of their compliance with the obligations set by the OSA.
Pornographic content investigations
In January, Ofcom wrote to services who display or publish pornographic content to inform them of the requirement to have highly effective age assurance in place to protect children. In its letter, Ofcom requested details of service providers' plans to comply, and their implementation programs.
Ofcom reports that 1,300 website services responded by implementing age assurance measures. A small number of sites decided to block UK web traffic.
Itai Tech Ltd (which operates the site Undress.cc) and Score Internet Group LLC (which operates the site Scoreland.com) failed to respond and so, on 9 May 2025, Ofcom opened investigations into both of them (details on these investigations: Itai Tech Ltd and Score Internet Group LLC). Ofcom has announced that it is investigating these services for potential breaches of their duties under the OSA in relation to protecting children from pornography. Ofcom is due to provide updates as the investigation develops and it will be interesting to see whether these investigations go beyond age assurance and also involve an assessment of wider compliance with the OSA duties.
Illegal content investigation
On 14 May 2025, Ofcom announced an investigation into Kick Online Entertainment S.A (Kick) which operates the site Motherless.com. This investigation follows complaints about Kick's potential enabling of the hosting of illegal content and activity on its site, specifically child sexual abuse material and extreme pornography, and Kick's subsequent failure to respond to a statutory information request. Ofcom has therefore stated its intent to assess Kick's completion and record of its Illegal Content Risk Assessment and other compliance with its duties under the OSA (including the requirement to respond to statutory information requests).
Looking ahead
These three investigations show that Ofcom continues to be proactive in exercising its enforcement powers under the OSA in line with the enforcement programs it identified earlier this year. Service providers should make sure that they are actively and accurately responding to requests from Ofcom for information and that they are complying with their duties under the OSA.
Given the strength of the enforcement powers bestowed on Ofcom by the OSA, the outcomes of these investigations will be interesting as they may indicate Ofcom's plans for penalties that can be expected from its wider enforcement programs.