The UK regulator Ofcom has fined OnlyFans, a popular content monetization platform, for £1.05 million (€1.2 million) for failing to provide accurate information on age verification.
In June 2022 and June 2023, Ofcom requested information from Fenix (the owner of the OnlyFans platform) on how the social network verifies age. In particular, the effectiveness of its facial age estimation tool.
Fenix stated that it had set the "age limit" for this tool at 23. The user has to take a selfie, which is then used to determine age. If the tool estimates that the person is over 23, it can create an account. If not, the user will have to confirm in some other way that he or she is an adult.
In 2024, Fenix found out that the "age limit" in OnlyFans was actually set at 20. They decided to raise the age limit to 23 on January 16, 2025, but changed it to 21 on January 19, 2025. Fenix did not inform the UK regulator of this error until January 22, 2024.
"Ofcom concluded that Fenix breached its duty to supply complete and accurate data in response to two statutory information requests. The investigation revealed that it took Fenix over 16 months to identify that it had provided inaccurate information to Ofcom," the statement reads.
