{"id":2045257,"date":"2026-07-15T21:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2045257"},"modified":"2026-07-15T21:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T18:30:00","slug":"uks-ofcom-releases-report-about-age-verification-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2045257","title":{"rendered":"UK’s Ofcom releases report about age-verification law"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/helios-i.mashable.com\/imagery\/articles\/07yitjlkmFLL939azlm712g\/hero-image.fill.size_1200x675.v1784129313.jpg”]<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Home<\/a>><\/span>Life<\/a>><\/span>Sex, Dating & Relationships<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Is the UK’s age-verification law working? Kinda.<\/h1>\n
Ofcom states that age checks are being used on an “unprecedented scale,” but there’s more to be done.<\/div>\n
\n
\n \u00a0By\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anna Iovine<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"anna<\/p>\n
\n
Anna Iovine<\/div>\n
Associate Editor, Features<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n Anna Iovine is the associate editor of features at Mashable. Previously, as the sex and relationships reporter, she covered topics ranging from dating apps to pelvic pain. Before Mashable, Anna was a social editor at VICE and freelanced for publications such as Slate and the Columbia Journalism Review. Follow her on Bluesky<\/a>.\n <\/div>\n

Read Full Bio<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0on\u00a0

Share on Facebook<\/span><\/a>Share on Twitter<\/span><\/a>Share on Flipboard<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\"smartphone<\/p>\n
Credit: Justin TALLIS \/ AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Close to a year after the enactment of the UK’s age assurance law, the Online Safety Act<\/a>, Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has released a report on its progress. <\/p>\n

The Online Safety Act requires robust age checks for sites that have content “restricted to adults,” which extends from pornography to non-explicit content<\/a> like the r\/stopsmoking subreddit.<\/p>\n

UK age verification, one year later<\/h2>\n

Ofcom has found that these age checks are now being deployed on an “unprecedented scale” across various sectors: porn, social media, dating, and gaming. Between July 2025, when the law went into effect, and Jan. 2026, the proportion of children “being asked to\u00a0prove their age\u00a0who\u00a0encountered\u00a0highly effective age checks” increased from 25 to 43 percent. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
You May Also Like<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Hookup apps for everyone<\/div>\n

AdultFriendFinder<\/span><\/a>
\n \u2014
\n readers\u2019 pick for casual connections<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tinder<\/span><\/a>
\n \u2014
\n top pick for finding hookups<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hinge<\/span><\/a>
\n \u2014
\n popular choice for regular meetups<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n Products available for purchase through affiliate links. If you buy something through links on our site, Mashable may earn an affiliate commission.\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n
SEE ALSO:<\/span>EU plans to restrict social media for kids under 13<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

Between July and Dec. last year, 69 million age checks were completed across a sample of 32 services, which Ofcom says is a 23-fold increase on the previous six months.<\/p>\n

According to Ofcom’s Children’s Passive Online Monitoring study, eight percent of children aged 8 to 14 who participated visited porn providers. Half of them only reached sites with age checks in place. The majority, 87 percent, of these porn site visits were for under 30 seconds, and 65 percent were for less than 10 seconds.<\/p>\n

Shortcomings of the Online Safety Act<\/h2>\n

Ofcom also found that all of the UK’s top 10 porn sites, and 64 out of the top 100 most popular porn sites in the country, have installed age assurance as of last month, and 10 have geo-blocked UK users. Despite this, though, Ofcom stated that “too many porn sites still\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have age checks in place.” It’s opened 23 investigations into providers of 88 adult services.<\/p>\n

\n
Mashable Trend Report<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Decode what\u2019s viral, what\u2019s next, and what it all means.<\/div>\n
Sign up for Mashable\u2019s weekly Trend Report newsletter.<\/div>\n
\n By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Thanks for signing up!<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Another result of the report is that children are finding porn sites without age checks via search. A third (33 percent) of Google Search results on the first page were porn sites without age checks or geo-blocking, while this was the case for 54 percent of first-page Bing results.<\/p>\n

Ofcom stated that Google and Bing are working with it “to\u00a0tackle\u00a0the\u00a0discoverability\u00a0of porn\u00a0sites without age checks\u00a0via their services,” though the Online Safety Act doesn’t require search providers to use age assurance to prevent minors from viewing porn.<\/p>\n

The report also stated that over 10 percent of 15 to 17-year-olds accessed three popular dating apps in Dec. 2025, despite age checks, so these services need to ensure their age checks are effective. <\/p>\n

Finally, the report also casts doubt on age-inference methods, which estimate a user’s age from their behavior. <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
Related Stories<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n