Pornhub, the most-visited porn provider in Britain, told the UK it would bring in “regulator approved age assurance methods” by Friday, July 25, 2025. It had not yet said what those methods would be. That deadline applied across the British internet, not only to adult sites, the Guardian reported.
From that Friday, platforms covered by the Online Safety Act had to put protections for children in place or risk heavy fines. The Guardian described it as a significant test of the law, which reaches Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Google. Hundreds of companies fall inside it.
What had to change
Every pornography site was required to have rigorous age checks. Social media platforms and large search engines had to stop children from reaching porn, and material that encourages suicide, self-harm or eating disorders, and keep it out of their feeds entirely. Ofcom, the regulator that enforces the act, found that 8% of children aged eight to 14 had visited a porn site or app over one month.
The codes also say recommendation algorithms must filter out harmful material, dangerous content must come down quickly, and children need a “straightforward” way to report problems. Companies do not have to follow the codes to the letter if they can show an alternative that works.
How the checks work
Ofcom has backed several methods for porn providers: facial age estimation from a live photo or video, a check with a credit card provider, bank or mobile network, photo ID matched against a selfie, or a digital identity wallet. Linklaters lawyer Ria Moody told the paper that simply ticking a box to declare an age, or a terms-of-service line saying users must be 18, is not considered highly effective.
Some firms moved early. Reddit began checking ages the week before for its mature-content forums, using technology from a company called Persona that works from a selfie or a photo of government ID. Reddit stores only the verification status. OnlyFans already uses facial age software. In tests with a challenge age of 20, Yoti let through fewer than 1% of 13- to 17-year-olds by mistake, the Guardian said.
X said it would default users to sensitive-content settings when it cannot confirm they are adults. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said it already uses a layered approach, including teen accounts that are the default for anyone under 18.
Penalties and doubts
Ofcom can fine companies up to £18m or 10% of global turnover, whichever is greater. For Meta that would come to $16bn. In extreme cases it can ask a court to block a site in the UK, and senior managers who ignore enforcement notices could face up to two years in jail.
Critics say gaps remain. The Molly Rose Foundation argued the measures did not go far enough, and the Guardian noted that many smaller porn sites were expected to try ignoring the rule until they saw how Ofcom responded.
