Online platforms where anyone can view pornography have agreed to adopt robust identity measures, Ofcom reports.
Major porn providers have confirmed that they will introduce age checks in response to Ofcom’s enforcement action. Rather than sites demonstrating their dedication to online safety, next month’s deadline has pushed online services into a corner.
The commentary praising these companies for embracing the rules is wrong when regulators like Ofcom have fought for algorithm-driven services to take accountability for the harmful content they promote to users – especially young users.
The EU mandated Pornhub, YouPorn, and Stripchat to implement sophisticated age assurance tools – such as facial age estimation, ID validation, open-banking checks, or digital ID wallets. Several others are under investigation. 100,000 online services and social media sites are required to enforce ID-based age verification checks by late July 2025.
If any company fails to comply with their new duties, Ofcom reserves the right to impose fines and court orders for the most serious cases. Research shows 3% of children aged 8-9 years-old and 8% of 8-14 year-olds encountered pornographic content on the web in a month.
Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom Group Director of Online Safety said: “Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren’t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling. But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online”.
“Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s.”
France implemented its own age-verification law in January 2025, applying similar requirements, including “double-anonymity” measures, for porn and social media platforms.
