AVS now has 72 hours to implement "highly effective" age checks

Ofcom has issued its first major penalty under the Online Safety Act , and it’s aimed squarely at AVS Group Ltd, a little-known adult website network registered to a virtual mailbox in Belize.

The regulator fined the firm £1m on Thursday for failing to introduce mandatory age checks across its 18 adult sites, then added another £50,000 after the company failed to respond to official notices.

This is Ofcom’s attempt to show the new law has teeth from day one.

Rather than waiting for a showdown with a Silicon Valley heavyweight, the regulator has targeted a company broadcasting into the UK, ignoring statutory demands and offering no functioning age-verification system.

A simple case, used to send a wider signal

AVS now h

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