LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) – Britain fined a porn website company 1 million pounds ($1.33 million) on Thursday for not having robust age checks in place to protect children, the biggest penalty to be imposed so far under its new online safety regime.

Media regulator Ofcom said it fined AVS Group Ltd, an operator of 18 adult websites, for lapses relating to age checks plus an extra 50,000 pounds for failing to respond to information requests.

AVS did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The Online Safety Act is designed to protect children and vulnerable users from illegal content online and came into force earlier this year, but has caused tensions between U.S. tech companies and Britain.

Critics of the law have said it threatens free speech and targets U.S. companies

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