Britain’s media regulator, Ofcom, officially closed its investigation on February 4th into whether or not under-age people were accessing the subscription-based platform, OnlyFans, which would violate the Online Safety Act (OSA). The platform is well-known for its sex-forward content, which is why, in May 2024, Ofcom announced the investigation to determine if OnlyFans was implementing proper age assurance to keep anyone under 18 from all restricted material — including pornographic material.
The investigation appears to have discovered what OnlyFans called a “coding configuration issue” around its age verification tools. This issue led to a reporting error, which it corrected once it was discovered by Ofcom. The platform appeared to be complying with the Online Safety Act, as well as the pre-existing rules in place before the Act, which required all video-sharing platforms in the United Kingdom to take all possible action to restrict underage access to sexually explicit material.
Fenix International, OnlyFans’ parent company, should be breathing a sigh of relief. The Online Safety Act took effect in 2023, and since then there have been guidelines issued, and enforcement actions have begun to take place, including recent action by Ofcom. They fined the video-sharing platform MintStars £7000 for “failing to adequately protect children from accessing online pornography.” At the time, the OnlyFans competitor only required users to declare that they were over 18. That is not sufficient age assurance measure under the new rules set by the OSA.
When announcing the close of the investigation into OnlyFans, Ofcom issued the following statement on their website, “Where appropriate, Ofcom’s supervision team will continue to engage with OnlyFans around the way it implements measures to protect children from restricted material.”
While the investigation may be officially closed, Ofcom does not say the platform is fully in the clear. They clearly stated their intent to re-open the investigation into OnlyFans if need be.
The London-based platform isn’t worried. In a statement they issued via email, they maintain: “At all times, OnlyFans’ age assurance was set to at least 20 years old. OnlyFans is, and has always been, confident that these measures are sufficient to meet our obligations to protect under 18s from accessing restricted material.”
It’s clear that OnlyFans wants to stay clear of any potential legal issues when it comes to things like this. Age verification was one of the reasons the platform pulled Bonnie Blue’s recent sex marathon stunt. The platform issued a statement about the decision: “To keep our community safe, OnlyFans also verifies the age, identity and consent of all parties featured in explicit content on OnlyFans. We do not allow a large number of non-OnlyFans creators to be featured on an account even where release forms have been provided.”
The platform even has a Law Enforcement Guide that is easily accessible on its website. It was designed to assist law enforcement officials with their discharge of law enforcement functions and investigations. The guide ends with a contact form that law enforcement agencies can use if they need to contact the platform regarding an issue. Don’t worry though. If you aren’t law enforcement, you can always contact them with their regular form.