Ofcom fines deep nudity site for failure to verify age
The operator of a so-called “strip” site has been fined for failing to put in place age verification procedures, which are required under online safety laws.
Regulator Ofcom has investigated Itai Tech Ltd, which provides artificial intelligence tools that allow users to edit images to apparently remove someone’s clothing.
Ofcom said on Thursday it had fined the company £50,000 for failing to verify age, plus an additional £5,000 for failing to respond to its information requests.
BBC News has contacted Itai Tech Ltd for comment.
The nudity site you run cannot currently be accessed from a UK IP address. Documents on the Companies House website show that Itai Tech Ltd recently applied to have itself removed from the UK companies register.
Ofcom said its fine was due to the company’s decision to make its site unavailable to users in the UK, which it said occurred shortly after the investigation began in May.
Susan Cater, Ofcom’s director of enforcement, said: “Using a highly effective age guarantee to protect children from harmful pornographic content is non-negotiable and we will accept no excuses for failure.”
“Any service that fails to meet age verification duties under the Online Safety Act can expect to face tough enforcement action, including significant fines.”
This is the second fine imposed by the regulator under the law, which requires porn sites to verify that users are over 18.
Its first fine was imposed on online message board 4chan, which it said had not responded to requests for information about measures required to prevent people from accessing illegal content.
Ofcom has set a deadline of November 13 to pay a £20,000 fine.
But a lawyer for the US-based company previously told the BBC that it had no intention of paying. Accusing the regulatory body of overreach and oversight.
If companies do not pay, the regulator can seek to recover fines through legal action, or apply for court orders directing internet providers to limit access to the site.
Since July 25, sites hosting age-restricted content must have “highly effective age assurance” methods to ensure children cannot access them.
These include age verification tools Such as estimating the age of a facewhich should be “robust” in inferring whether a user is over 18 years old.
Ofcom has also opened new investigations into 20 more porn sites, bringing the number of sites and apps it investigates for suspected online safety breaches to 76.
Meanwhile, Recent reports It suggests the government may look to ban so-called “nudity” or “undressing” apps as part of further efforts to tackle the abuse of deeply intimate images.