The operator of a pornography site has been fined £630,000 by Ofcom for failing to introduce any age verification checks – a requirement that has been mandatory for adult content platforms in the UK since July last year. The regulator said the company behind Fapello did not respond to requests for information on time, prompting an additional £30,000 penalty on top of the £600,000 fine for the core breach.
"Age checks are no longer optional for porn sites in the UK," said George Lusty, Ofcom's director of enforcement. "They are a cornerstone of our laws to protect children from content they should not be seeing."
“Ofcom fines Fapello operator £630,000 for failing to implement mandatory age checks on UK users.”
Ofcom opened an investigation into the site in November. By Thursday it had concluded that Fapello had implemented no age assurance measures at all, despite the legal requirement for "highly effective" checks since July 2025. The site has since blocked UK visitors, but the regulator says it will continue to monitor its compliance.
This fine is one of several handed down by Ofcom in recent months. In May, it fined YoungTek Solutions £600,000 for failing to ensure UK users were over 18. Earlier, another adult site operator was hit with a £1.35m penalty for the same reason. However, the effectiveness of such enforcement has been questioned. In December it emerged that Ofcom had never received a response from a firm fined £1m, prompting doubts about whether monetary penalties alone secure action – though that company later began complying.
Ofcom is also locked in a separate dispute with online message board 4chan, which has refused to pay a £520,000 fine. A lawyer for 4chan has repeatedly mocked the regulator's threats with AI-generated cartoon images of hamsters. The regulator has set out acceptable age-check methods, including credit card checks, photo ID matching, and estimating age via selfies. Whatever method platforms choose, Ofcom says it must be "technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair".
On Thursday, Ofcom opened a new investigation into another porn provider, Bit Hive, citing concern that one of its age-check methods "may not be highly effective." Lusty added a warning to all providers: "If they don't supply accurate information to us on time, when we request it, they should expect to face enforcement action, including fines."