Britain fines porn website $1.3 million over age checks failure

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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. This is the third company Ofcom has fined under the new regime. The first was U.S. internet forum site 4chan in October for 20,000 pounds.

Ofcom said it started looking at AVS in July as part of an investigation into dozens of adult sites which have millions of monthly visitors in Britain.

It said it had issued the fine because it did not consider AVS’s age verification process to be “highly effective”. The penalty AVS faces could increase by 1,000 pounds a day if effective age checks are not brought in within 72 hours.

“We continue to investigate other services’ compliance with age check requirements and will take action where necessary,” Ofcom said in its statement.

($1 = 0.7501 pounds)

(Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)