The War on Porn Regular Updates about the Assault on The Adult Industry
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It feels like every time a major platform caves to age checks, smaller sites quietly slip into the vacuum—and regulators eventually notice. That’s what’s happening now in the U.K., where Ofcom has opened investigations into 20 additional adult sites under the Online Safety Act’s age-assurance rules.
In a statement released Thursday, the agency named five providers that collectively operate the 20 sites under scrutiny: HQPorner, Porntrex, Fapello, XXBrits, and Sun Social Media, which runs playvids.com and peekvids.com.
According to Ofcom, these particular platforms weren’t chosen at random. They appear to have gained new users from the wave of traffic migrating away from larger, fully compliant sites—the ones that turned on age verification last summer and took the hit.
“We have prioritized action against these companies based on the risk of harm posed by the services they operate,” the statement reads. “We have taken particular account of their user numbers, including where we have seen significant increases in their user traffic since age-check laws came into force last summer.”
People have been predicting this shift for years: enforce age-verification on big platforms and users will simply move to smaller, noncompliant sites. Now it’s playing out in real time—major sites reporting steep traffic drops while their competitors grow without the same legal burdens.
Suzanne Cater, Ofcom’s Director of Enforcement, didn’t mince words. “The use of highly effective age assurance to protect children from harmful pornographic content is non-negotiable, and we will accept no excuses for failure. Any service that fails to meet its age-check duties under the Online Safety Act can expect to face robust enforcement action, including significant fines.”
Ongoing Investigations
Alongside the announcement about newly targeted sites, Ofcom also updated progress on a series of ongoing cases.
The agency fined Itai Tech Ltd., operator of the AI “nudification” site Undress.cc, a total of 55,000 pounds for failing to implement required age-assurance measures and for ignoring a statutory information request.
It also issued provisional decisions against 8579 LLC and Kick Online Entertainment for similar issues. “Both providers now have an opportunity to make representations to us before we make our final decisions,” the statement notes.
Meanwhile, investigations into Cyberitic LLC and the operator of xgroovy.com are expanding, as regulators assess whether those companies also failed to properly respond to formal requests for information.
One case did end on a more cooperative note: Ofcom closed its investigation into Trendio Ltd., concluding the provider has “taken steps in good faith towards compliance.”
With these new additions, the total number of platforms Ofcom is actively investigating under the Online Safety Act now sits at 76.
