United Kingdom: Office of Communications opened investigation into 8579 LLC's compliance with age assurance obligations under Online Safety Act

On 31 July 2025, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) opened a formal investigation into the compliance of 8579 LLC with the new age assurance requirements introduced under the Online Safety Act. The investigation concerns the operation of pornography websites by 8579 LLC and the implementation of highly effective age-check measures to prevent children's access to pornographic content. This action follows the entry into force, on 25 July 2025, of statutory obligations for services permitting user-uploaded pornography to deploy robust age assurance. Ofcom selected 8579 LLC for prioritised investigation based on the assessed risk of harm and the volume of UK-based users across the services it operates, which collectively contribute to the over 9 million unique monthly UK visits reported across all 34 websites under investigation.