United Kingdom: Office of Communications expanded investigation into AVS Group's compliance with age assurance obligations under Online Safety Act

On 28 August 2025, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) announced that it had expanded its investigation into AVS Group Ltd following the company’s failure to respond to a formal information notice issued on 30 July 2025 under Section 100 of the Online Safety Act 2023. The expansion includes consideration of whether AVS Group Ltd has failed, or is failing, to comply with its statutory duty to respond accurately to an information notice issued under the Act. On 31 July 2025, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) initiated a formal investigation into AVS Group Ltd in relation to its compliance with the age-check duties established under the Online Safety Act. The investigation addresses whether AVS Group Ltd has deployed highly effective age assurance mechanisms across its pornography platforms, as mandated by the regulatory framework effective from 25 July 2025. The company is one of four subject to enforcement prioritisation by Ofcom based on service risk and user scale, in this instance contributing to a combined total of over 9 million unique monthly UK visits across 34 targeted websites. The investigation aims to assess potential contraventions of the statutory obligations designed to restrict underage access to pornographic material.