Ofcom apologizes for ‘insensitive’ pornographic job advert.

Ofcom has apologized for what it admitted was an “ill-advised” post by an employee about a job that involves monitoring pornographic websites for illegal content and preventing children from accessing them.

“Always wanted to work in porn but don’t have the ability to be an OnlyFans? Now’s your chance,” a senior employee at the media regulator joked on LinkedIn.

Baroness Kidron, a prominent children’s rights campaigner, told the BBC that the comments treated dealing with porn companies as a “privilege” and “minimized” the issue of violence against women and girls.

Ofcom said in a statement to the BBC that it was “an error by a well-meaning colleague wishing to attract attention to a recruitment post”.

“They realized that the post was ill-advised and expressed their regret,” they said.

“Ofcom takes its role as online safety regulator very seriously and we are focused on finding the best people to help us get the job done.”

Baroness Kidron, a peer who campaigns for children’s rights online, said the ad had been sent to her by concerned people “dozens of times”.

She said she responded with a “scream of pain.”

She told the BBC: “Ofcom doesn’t understand its role, it’s all between us and the most powerful companies in the world, and we need adults who want results that change people’s lives for the better.”

And Gemma Kelly Head of the Policy and Public Affairs Department at CEASEwas also highly critical.

“For a representative of Ofcom – the organization responsible for regulating harmful online content – ​​to make jokes about an industry that normalizes violence against women, monetizes sexual assault, and encourages objectification, is completely reprehensible,” she said.

Others who work in the charity sector responded, with one person saying the post by an Ofcom employee was “deeply offensive” and another describing it as “completely inappropriate and disturbing”.

The BBC asked Ofcom about the accusations – and why other senior staff at the organization had liked the original post – but received no response.

The LinkedIn post was made by an Ofcom employee who describes himself as a “Director of Online Safety Oversight”, where he “manages a team responsible for tackling online pornographic services”.

“I wanted to raise my hand and apologize for the tone of the post below,” he wrote in an update to his original LinkedIn post.

He added: “It was poor judgment and I apologize for the offense I caused.”

He says the advertised job involves “dealing with online pornographic services” to combat illegal content and restrict access to children.

He adds that his team is also working to understand current safety measures and evaluate how well they protect users.

Ofcom is taking on sweeping new enforcement powers for porn sites and many other digital services as a result of the Internet Safety Act, which Partially enters into force in 2025.