Ofcom has recently launched new investigations under the Online Safety Act 2023.
The first two are into whether Kick Online Entertainment S.A. has failed to comply with its duties under the UK's Online Safety Act.
Ofcom reiterates that providers of services that come within the Act must assess the risk of people in the UK encountering illegal content on their service, and take appropriate steps to protect them from it. Providers are also required to respond to all statutory information requests from Ofcom in an accurate, complete and timely way.
On 3 March 2025, Ofcom opened an enforcement programme to monitor whether providers are complying with their duties under the Act to carry out an illegal content risk assessment and keep appropriate records of their assessments.
As part of this, it issued an information request to Kick Online Entertainment S.A., which is responsible for providing the pornography website Motherless.com. Kick hasn't replied. Therefore, Ofcom is investigating whether Kick has failed to complete – and keep a record of – a suitable and sufficient illegal content risk assessment and to respond to a statutory information request.
Ofcom has received complaints about the potential for illegal content and activity on this site, including child sexual abuse material and extreme pornography. In light of this, it is also considering whether Kick has put appropriate safety measures in place to protect its UK users from illegal content and activity and may launch an additional investigation into its compliance with this duty if appropriate.
Age assurance investigations
In addition, Ofcom is investigating two other porn services. Online services must ensure children cannot access pornographic content on their sites. In January, Ofcom wrote to online services thatdisplay or publish their own pornographic content to explain that the requirements for them to have highly effective age checks in place to protect children had come into force. It requested details of services' plans for complying, along with an implementation timeline and a named point of contact.
Many services confirmed that they are implementing, or have plans to implement, age assurance on around 1,300 sites. Some services decided to block UK users from accessing their sites, rather than putting age checks in place.
Certain services failed to respond. Therefore, Ofcom is investigating Itai Tech Ltd - a service which runs the nudification site Undress.cc - and Score Internet Group LLC, which runs the site Scoreland.com. Both sites appear to have no highly effective age assurance in place and are potentially in breach of the Online Safety Act and their duties to protect children from pornography.
It will update on the various investigations in due course.
Ofcom has been criticised for not implementing the Act quickly enough, but these investigations show that it is taking action where it believes it to be necessary. As a consequence, providers should not sit on their hands, but should ensure that they consult Ofcom's guidance and take the necessary steps.
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