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Ofcom fines pornography provider £630,000 over failures to protect children online
Ofcom fines porn site for age check failures
The UK’s online safety regulator, Ofcom, has fined the provider of pornographic website Fapello.com a total of £630,000 after finding it failed to implement legally required age checks and did not respond to a formal information request.
The enforcement action marks another significant step in the implementation of the Online Safety Act, which places greater responsibility on online platforms to protect children from harmful content.
Ofcom imposed a £600,000 fine after determining that the provider of Fapello.com had failed to introduce effective age assurance measures designed to prevent children from accessing pornography online.
Under UK law, websites hosting pornographic content must use “highly effective” age verification or age estimation measures to ensure users are over the age of 18.
Following Ofcom’s intervention, the website has since blocked access from UK IP addresses, meaning it is no longer directly available to users in the United Kingdom. The regulator says it will continue to monitor compliance.
In addition to the age verification failings, Ofcom issued a further £30,000 penalty after the provider failed to respond to a legally binding request for information. Regulators rely on timely and accurate information from companies to assess whether online platforms are meeting their legal obligations and keeping users safe.
Age checks are no longer optional for porn sites in the UK. They are a cornerstone of our laws to protect children from content they should not be seeing. 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.
George Lusty, Ofcom's Director of EnforcementThe action is part of a broader programme of enforcement activity under the Online Safety Act. Ofcom has also announced a new investigation into two other platforms due to age-checking concerns and failure to comply with legal requirements relating to requests for information.
Why This matters
Protecting children from exposure to online pornography is an important safeguarding issue. Research has consistently shown that many young people encounter pornography online at an early age, often unintentionally. Exposure to sexually explicit material can affect young people’s understanding of relationships, consent, body image and healthy sexual development.
The Online Safety Act aims to reduce children’s access to harmful content by requiring platforms to take proactive steps to protect younger users. Ofcom’s latest enforcement action sends a clear message that online providers must meet these responsibilities or face significant penalties.
At Safeline, we welcome initiatives that strengthen the protection of children and young people online. Effective age verification, digital education and early intervention all play an important role in creating safer online spaces and reducing the risk of harm.
What Parents and Guardians Can Do
While age-checking requirements are an important step in protecting children online, no system is completely foolproof.
Some young people may attempt to bypass restrictions by using tools such as Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which can mask a user’s location and allow access to content that would otherwise be blocked.
Parents and guardians may wish to:
- Talk openly with children and young people about online safety and pornography.
- Check privacy, content and device settings on phones, tablets and computers.
- Be aware of apps or services that provide VPN functionality.
- Use parental controls and family safety tools where appropriate.
- Encourage children to come to a trusted adult if they encounter upsetting or inappropriate content online.
- Keep communication open and non-judgemental so young people feel able to discuss what they see online.