Ofcom Report on UK Age-Verification Law Released

Nearly a year after the implementation of the UK’s age assurance legislation, known as the Online Safety Act, Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has published a report detailing its advancements.

The Online Safety Act mandates comprehensive age verification for websites featuring content deemed “restricted to adults.” This requirement encompasses not only pornography but also extends to non-explicit platforms, such as the r/stopsmoking subreddit.

Evaluation of UK Age Verification Practices After One Year

Ofcom’s findings reveal that age verification measures are now being adopted on an “unprecedented scale” across multiple sectors including pornography, social media, dating applications, and gaming. Between July 2025, when the law was enacted, and January 2026, the percentage of children asked to verify their age and who encountered highly effective age checks rose dramatically from 25 to 43 percent.

During the period from July to December of last year, 69 million age verification checks were completed across a sample of 32 services, indicating a staggering 23-fold increase compared to the previous six months.

As reported in Ofcom’s Children’s Passive Online Monitoring study, 8 percent of children aged 8 to 14 visited adult content websites. Among them, half accessed sites with age verification measures in place. Most visits, approximately 87 percent, lasted less than 30 seconds, with 65 percent being under 10 seconds.

Identifying Weaknesses in the Online Safety Act

Ofcom noted that all of the UK’s top 10 adult websites, along with 64 of the 100 most popular sites, have implemented age verification measures as of last month. 10 of these sites have geo-blocked access for users in the UK. Ofcom emphasized that “too many adult sites still lack age verification processes.” Consequently, 23 investigations have been initiated into the providers of 88 adult services.

Another key finding from the report is that children are discovering adult websites without age verification through search engines. A striking 33 percent of the first-page Google search results were adult sites lacking age checks or geo-blocking, while this issue affected 54 percent of first-page Bing results.

Ofcom has confirmed that Google and Bing are collaborating to address the issue of adult sites without age verification appearing in their search results. the Online Safety Act does not compel search engines to utilize age verification to prohibit minors from accessing adult content.

The report highlighted that over 10 percent of 15 to 17-year-olds accessed three popular dating applications in December 2025, despite the existence of age verification. This indicates that these platforms must enhance the effectiveness of their age verification methods.

Lastly, the report raised concerns about age-inference techniques, which estimate a user’s age based on their online behavior.

Ofcom’s message to social media companies is unequivocal: those that rely on age inference models to meet their child protection responsibilities should urgently transition to alternative methods outlined in our guidance that have proven to be highly effective.

This matter becomes increasingly significant as the UK prepares to enforce a ban on social media for individuals under 16. The UK government intends to implement similar age verification methods as those established in the Online Safety Act. A recent study evaluating Australia’s social media ban found it to be ineffective, partly because age estimation does not necessitate younger users to undergo further verification checks.

Ofcom plans to present an assessment to Parliament by the end of October detailing what constitutes “highly effective age checks” for determining if someone is over 16. a report focusing on age verification at the app-store level is scheduled for publication by January 2027.

Alongside the comprehensive social media ban for users under 16, the UK has also introduced a social media curfew for teenagers aged 16 and 17.