OnlyFans fined £1m over inaccurate responses to information requests

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The firm behind subscription site OnlyFans has been fined £1.05 million by Ofcom for failing to accurately respond to formal information requests.

The regulator said Fenix International Limited had been fined for not providing accurate information on its age assurance measures when requested.

In June 2022 and June 2023, Ofcom had sought details from Fenix on what age check measures it had in place on OnlyFans – but Fenix then proactively alerted Ofcom in January 2024 that it had provided incorrect information on the “challenge age” set for its age estimation technology.

As a result, Ofcom launched several investigations into Fenix in May last year.

Suzanne Cater, Ofcom’s enforcement director, said: “When we use our statutory powers to request information from platforms, they are required, by law, to ensure it is complete, accurate and delivered to us on time.

“Receiving accurate and complete information is fundamental for Ofcom to do its job as a regulator, and to understand and monitor how platforms are operating.

“We will hold platforms to high standards and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where we find failings.”

An OnlyFans spokesperson said: “OnlyFans recognises the importance of providing Ofcom with accurate and timely information.

“We welcome the conclusion of this process and Ofcom’s previous decision to close their investigation into our age assurance measures.”

Last month, Ofcom dropped another of its probes into OnlyFans, looking at whether the site was doing enough to prevent under-18s accessing pornography on the platform.

At the time the investigations into OnlyFans were first launched, the platform said a “coding configuration issue” around its age verification tools had led to the reporting error and that it was confident it had always met its obligations to protect under-18s from accessing restricted material.

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