Two porn sites investigated for suspected age check failings

Ofcom has launched investigations into 2 pornographic sites it believes whitethorn beryllium falling foul of the UK's recently introduced kid information rules.

The regulator said 2 companies - including 1 moving a alleged "nudifying" work - had failed to item however they were preventing children from accessing their platforms.

Ofcom announced successful January that, successful bid to comply with the Online Safety Act, each websites connected which pornographic worldly could beryllium recovered had to present "robust" age-checking techniques by July.

It said the 2 services it was investigating did not look to person immoderate effectual means of checking the property of users.

Firms recovered to beryllium successful breach of the Act look immense fines.

The regulator said connected Friday that galore services had, arsenic required, provided details of "highly effectual property assurance methods" they were readying to implement.

• What the Online Safety Act is - and however to support children harmless online

They added that this "reassuringly" included immoderate of the largest services that autumn nether the rules.

It said a tiny fig of services had besides blocked UK users wholly to forestall children accessing them, it said.

The 2 companies it is investigating did not respond to its petition for accusation oregon amusement they had plans to present property checks.

The "nudifying" exertion 1 of them features involves the usage of artificial quality (AI) to make the content of having removed a person's covering successful an representation oregon video.

The Children's Commissioner precocious called connected the authorities to present a full prohibition connected specified AI apps that could beryllium utilized to make sexually explicit images of children.

All websites wherever a idiosyncratic mightiness brushwood pornographic worldly are required to show the robustness of the measures they are taking to verify the property of users.

These could see requiring UK users to supply photograph ID oregon moving recognition paper checks.

These could adjacent use to immoderate societal media platforms, Ofcom told the BBC successful January.

The rules are expected to alteration the mode galore UK adults volition usage oregon brushwood immoderate integer services, specified arsenic porn sites.

"As property checks commencement to rotation retired successful the coming months, adults volition commencement to announcement a quality successful however they entree definite online services," said Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom's main executive, successful January.

In April, Discord said it would commencement investigating face-scanning as a mode to verify immoderate users' ages successful the UK and Australia.

Experts said it marked "the commencement of a bigger shift" for platforms arsenic lawmakers worldwide look to enforce strict net information rules.

Critics suggest specified measures hazard pushing young radical to "darker corners" of the net wherever determination are smaller, little regulated sites hosting much convulsive oregon explicit material.