United Kingdom: Office of Communications issued provisional notice of contravention to AVS Group Ltd for breaches of age-assurance and information-notice duties under Online Safety Act

On 13 October 2025, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) provisionally determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe AVS Group Ltd has failed, and continues to fail, to comply with Section 12 of the Online Safety Act 2023, which imposes a duty on providers of regulated pornographic services to ensure that children are prevented from encountering pornographic content through the use of highly effective age-assurance measures. Consequently, Ofcom issued a provisional notice of contravention to AVS Group Ltd on 10 October 2025 under Section 130 of the Act, setting out its provisional findings and the actions proposed. The notice also states Ofcom’s provisional view that AVS Group Ltd breached Section 102(8) of the Act by failing to respond to a statutory information request issued as part of the investigation. The investigation, initiated on 31 July 2025 and expanded on 28 August 2025, concerns the deployment of age-assurance mechanisms across AVS Group Ltd’s pornography platforms, which collectively attract over 9 million monthly UK visits across 34 targeted websites. AVS Group Ltd has 20 working days to submit representations before Ofcom reaches a final decision.