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UK Regulator Ofcom Investigates 4chan and Others for Possible Online Safety Breaches

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Britain’s media regulator Ofcom launched nine investigations on Tuesday targeting potential violations of the country’s Online Safety Act, including probes into the internet messageboard 4chan and several file-sharing platforms.

The Online Safety Act, enacted in 2023, imposes stringent requirements on digital platforms to curb criminal activity, with a strong focus on protecting children and eliminating illegal content.

Ofcom received complaints regarding potentially illegal material on 4chan, and separately concerning the sharing of child sexual abuse content on seven file-sharing services. The regulator is examining whether these platforms failed to implement adequate safety measures, properly respond to statutory information requests, and maintain accurate risk assessment records.

Attempts to contact 4chan for comment were unsuccessful.

Under the law, Ofcom can mandate platforms to take corrective actions or impose fines up to £18 million (about $24.28 million) or 10% of their qualifying global revenue, whichever is higher.

In a related investigation, Ofcom is also assessing whether adult content provider First Time Videos has sufficient age verification controls to protect minors.

UK Watchdog Fines OnlyFans $1.4 Million Over Age-Check Disclosure Failures

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Britain’s media and telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has fined OnlyFans £1.05 million ($1.4 million) for failing to accurately disclose information related to its age verification measures. The fine follows an investigation into the platform’s methods of checking user age, specifically its use of third-party facial estimation technology.

Investigation Findings

OnlyFans’ operator, Fenix International Limited, was found to have misrepresented the effectiveness of its age verification technology. The platform claimed that its facial recognition system, which uses live selfies submitted by users, had a “challenger age” threshold of 23 years. However, the threshold was actually set at 20 years, a discrepancy that Fenix International reported to Ofcom last year.

In response to the error, Fenix announced plans to raise the threshold to 23 years in January 2025. However, the company later lowered it to 21 years within a few days. Despite this correction, the failure to provide accurate and complete information led to the fine.

Ofcom’s Role and Future Actions

Ofcom emphasized the importance of receiving accurate information to fulfill its regulatory responsibilities. Suzanne Cater, the enforcement director at Ofcom, stated, “We will hold platforms to high standards and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where we find failings.”

Although Ofcom closed its investigation into whether minors were accessing the platform, it continues to monitor the accuracy of the information provided by OnlyFans.

Platform’s Response

OnlyFans, which has over 300 million users and generates $1.3 billion in revenue, welcomed the conclusion of the investigation related to UK onboarding. A spokesperson for the platform acknowledged the importance of providing accurate and timely information to the regulator.

UK’s Ofcom Drops Probe into Under-Age Access to OnlyFans, Continues Investigation on Accuracy of Information

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Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, announced on Tuesday that it has closed its investigation into whether individuals under the age of 18 have been accessing OnlyFans, an adults-only content platform. The regulator clarified that while this investigation has concluded, it will continue to assess whether OnlyFans provided complete and accurate information when required.

The investigation was initially launched in May to determine if the platform was adequately protecting minors from accessing adult content. In its statement, Ofcom mentioned that it would maintain oversight over the measures OnlyFans implements to safeguard children from restricted material. However, the regulator stressed that no formal conclusions had been reached, and should further information come to light, it reserves the right to reopen the investigation.

A spokesperson from OnlyFans emphasized that the platform’s age verification measures have always been set to at least 20 years old, and the company is confident that these safeguards meet its legal responsibilities to protect users under the age of 18 from inappropriate content.