United Kingdom: Office of Communications fined OnlyFans GBP 1.05 million for non compliance with age verification obligations

On 27 March 2025, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) fined GBP 1.05 million Fenix International Limited, the provider of OnlyFans, for failure to ensure accurate compliance with age verification measures on its platform. Following a formal request from Ofcom in June 2022 and June 2023, Fenix was required to submit complete and accurate information regarding the implementation and efficacy of its age assurance measures. These measures specifically included the functionality and effectiveness of its third-party facial estimation technology, which determines whether users meet the minimum age requirement to engage with the platform. The investigation determined that Fenix International Limited failed to accurately report the age setting used for the technology, informing Ofcom that it was set at 23 years when, in actuality, it was set at 20 since November 2021. This inaccuracy directly influenced the data published in Ofcom's October 2022 report on video-sharing platform regulation. Despite receiving notice from its technology provider of this discrepancy in January 2024, Fenix delayed notifying Ofcom until late that month.