OnlyFans, the subscription service ‘content creator’ site used mainly by pornography-producing sex workers, is under investigation over concerns it is failing to prevent children from accessing explicit adult content. Fenix International Limited, OnlyFans’ parent company, is being investigated by the UK‘s Office of Communications (Ofcom) for its alleged failure to implement adequate age verification measures and failure to comply with government information requests.
“We are investigating whether OnlyFans has contravened its duties to implement appropriate measures (taken under Schedule 15A) to protect under-18s from encountering restricted material such as pornography,” Ofcom wrote. “We are also looking at whether OnlyFans failed to provide complete and accurate responses to statutory information requests.”
The porn site maintained in a statement that it has experienced “a coding configuration issue” affecting some “age thresholds” but insists it “works closely” with regulators to “implement and develop best-practices on online safety.” The company asserts that its age thresholds are always set above 18.
While OnlyFans faces scrutiny in the UK for inadequate age-verification measures, such protections are not even in place for children in much of the U.S. After Texas passed a law requiring age-verification on pornography websites, Texas AG Ken Paxton sued PornHub for refusing to implement such verification. The controversial website eventually decided to suspend service in Texas rather than take measures to protect children from its pornographic content.
