Short answer is Yes. Last week on February 12, 2026, Ofcom fined Kick Online Entertainment SA £800,000 for failing to implement legally required age checks under the UK’s Online Safety Act. The company ran 34 adult websites and failed to comply with age assurance requirements for five months after they became mandatory. A separate £30,000 fine was issued for non-cooperation with the regulator’s information requests.
What Law Did Kick Online Entertainment Break?
The UK’s Online Safety Act requires any site hosting pornographic material to deploy highly effective age assurance to prevent children from accessing that content. The obligation came into force on July 25, 2025. Within days, Ofcom launched investigations into 34 sites operated by Kick Online Entertainment SA, prioritized based on user numbers and risk of harm. The sites collectively attracted more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors.
Ofcom found the company failed to meet the age check requirement from July 25 through December 29, 2025. Following enforcement action, the company implemented an age assurance method the regulator describes as capable of being highly effective.
What Are the Penalties and What Comes Next?
The total financial exposure for Kick Online Entertainment runs to more than £830,000. The core fine is £800,000 for the age assurance failure. The additional £30,000 covers the company’s failure to respond to Ofcom’s information requests in an accurate, complete, and timely manner. A daily penalty of £200 was also imposed for each day the company continued to fail to respond, up to 60 days.
This is not a standalone action. Ofcom has issued provisional non-compliance findings against Youngtek Solutions, 4chan, and Im.ge for similar Online Safety Act failures. All three have the opportunity to make representations before final decisions are issued. Investigations have also been expanded into four additional porn companies operating 20 adult sites, with the regulator examining whether they have engaged adequately with its requests.
More than half of the top 100 most popular adult services in the UK have now deployed age assurance, alongside major platforms including TikTok, Reddit, Discord, and Roblox. Ofcom’s own research found that 47% of children aged 8 to 17 who attempted to access age-restricted content after the July deadline encountered an age verification step, compared to 30% before.
Ofcom Director of Enforcement Suzanne Cater was direct: the obligation is non-negotiable, and companies that fail to meet it or engage with the regulator should expect significant fines. The regulator confirmed further enforcement actions are in progress.
What Enforcement Tools Does Ofcom Have Beyond Fines?
Where a provider fails to pay a fine or refuses to implement required age assurance, Ofcom can apply to court for business disruption measures. These can include requiring payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from the platform, or requiring UK internet service providers to block access to the site entirely.
The £800,000 Kick Online fine follows a £1 million fine issued to AVS Group Ltd in late 2025 for inadequate age verification across 18 adult websites, plus a further £50,000 for non-cooperation. The pattern across both cases is the same: non-compliance with the age check requirement compounded by a failure to engage with the regulator, resulting in a larger combined penalty.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was fined? Kick Online Entertainment SA, a company operating 34 adult websites with more than nine million unique monthly UK visitors.
How much was the fine? £800,000 for the age assurance failure, plus £30,000 for failing to respond to Ofcom information requests, for a combined total exceeding £830,000.
What period did the violation cover? July 25 to December 29, 2025, the five months immediately following the age check duty coming into force.
Has the company fixed the problem? Yes. Kick Online Entertainment has since implemented an age assurance method Ofcom considers capable of being highly effective.
Are other companies facing action? Yes. Provisional non-compliance findings have been issued against Youngtek Solutions, 4chan, and Im.ge. Investigations have been expanded into four additional companies running 20 adult sites.
What happens if a company ignores the fine? Ofcom can seek court orders for business disruption measures, including requiring payment providers, advertisers, and ISPs to cut off services to the non-compliant platform.
