Porn company fined £1.35m by Ofcom over age check failings
Ofcom has fined a porn company £1.35 million for failing to implement proper age verification on its websites.
According to the media authority, 8579 LLC's websites did not have most
ways to determine if UK visitors were over 18, including the prohibition of children viewing the material.
The fine, which was Ofcom's highest levied under the Online Safety Act (OSA) so far, comes after it began investigating the company within days
of age check regulations being enforced in July 2025.
In addition, 8579 LLC has been fined a further £50,000 for failing to comply with Ofcom's information requests.
According to Ofcom, the company did not manage to conduct thorough age checks on the majority of its porn sites between 25 July and at least 19 November 2025.
According to the regulator, 8579 LLC must ensure that UK visitors are over 18 on one of the company's remaining sites before 17:00 GMT on Monday or face an additional £1,000 daily fine.
Ofcom's director, George Lusty, said it had been clear
that adult sites needed to have robust age checks to shield children in the United Kingdom from seeing porn.
Those that fail to do this – or ignore legally binding demands from us – could face fines,
he said.
Since failing to respond to the regulator's information requests, the regulator is also requiring 8579 LLC to provide Ofcom with a complete list of all sites it operates.
If it does not comply, it could result in a new daily fine of £250.
Ofcom has already launched probes into several porn sites that lack age verification and handed down decisions, including fines, for some.
AVS Group Ltd, a porn company, was fined £1 million in December for continuing non-compliance with the OSA.
AVS had carried out age checks on some of its porn sites, according to Ofcom.
Pornhub also restricted access to its website in the United Kingdom on February 2nd.
The OSA had not attained its target of safeguarding minors,
Aylo, Pornhub's parent company, said.
The legislation had also
diverted traffic to darker, unregulated parts of the internet,
the department said.
Ofcom has introduced and enforced the Act, which is a series of rules and obligations that online platforms must follow.
Platforms must also avoid young people from encountering offensive material relating to suicide, self-harm, eating disorders, and pornography under its Children's Codes.
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