Ofcom, the UK’s online safety regulator, set out its enforcement record under the Online Safety Act in its Online Safety industry bulletin for October 2026, published 15 October. Age assurance, meaning age verification or age estimation strong enough to stop children reaching pornography and other restricted content, is at the centre of it.

Penalties so far (as listed by Ofcom)

  • July: the provider of fapello.com fined £630,000 for failing to implement highly effective age assurance and for not answering a formal information request. It has since blocked UK access.
  • September: the provider of Xgroovy.com fined £730,000 on the same two grounds. It has since introduced age checks and blocked UK access.
  • September: First Time Videos LLC paid an £80,000 penalty for failing to implement highly effective age assurance; the investigation is closed.
  • September: provisional decisions issued to Cyberitic, LLC, ZD Media s.r.o., Web Prime Inc and the provider of porntrex.com.

Open investigations

  • Aylo (Pornhub), opened September: whether it prevents children encountering pornography through highly effective age assurance.
  • TikTok, opened July: whether it protects children from harmful content, including whether its age assurance is highly effective.
  • Bit Hive (Eporner.com), opened June.
  • Meta, opened October: whether it carried out suitable children’s and illegal-content risk assessments before launching Instants on Instagram.

What is coming

Ofcom says the government asked it in June for a rapid assessment of what “highly effective” age assurance would look like for checking whether someone is over 16, to inform debate on a planned social media ban for under-16s and other new age restrictions. It expects to consult on guidance once draft regulations are published. Category 1 and 2A services should publish summaries of their risk assessments by November 2026. Ofcom will also report on whether app stores should be brought into the Act’s scope.

“Age assurance is a cornerstone of the Online Safety Act and the basis for children’s online safety.” — Ofcom, Online Safety industry bulletin, 15 October 2026
Citizen impact: For adults in the UK, more of the internet now asks for proof of age, through ID upload, facial age estimation or similar checks run by the sites or their vendors. Ofcom is enforcing that with fines and, increasingly, with cases against the largest platforms. If an under-16 social media ban goes ahead, the same kind of checks would reach mainstream apps used by everyone, not only adult sites. Who bears the cost: platforms, and users who hand over personal data to verify. Who is protected: children, which is the Act’s stated purpose.

What this piece refuses

Do not write that Pornhub, TikTok or Meta have been found in breach: these are open investigations. Do not write that the UK has passed an under-16 social media ban; Ofcom describes it as planned, with regulations still in draft. This is a separate matter from Meta’s challenge to its Category 1 designation, which we covered earlier.

Bottom line

Verified from Ofcom’s 15 October 2026 bulletin: three age-assurance penalties (£630,000, £730,000 and £80,000), four provisional decisions, and open investigations into Aylo/Pornhub, TikTok, Eporner’s provider and Meta. Under-16 age-check guidance awaits government regulations.