OnlyFans fined over fluctuating "challenger age"

Ofcom, the UK’s media and telecommunications regulator, has fined the adult-only website OnlyFans $1.4 million for failing to properly disclose information related to age check measures.

OnlyFans' operator, Fenix International Limited, failed to provide accurate information about how it was implementing age checks and how effective OnlyFans' third-party facial estimation technology was, the watchdog said.

Last month, Ofcom closed its investigation into whether people under the age of 18 are accessing OnlyFans but said that it would continue to probe the accuracy of the information given by the platform when requested, which it has also now concluded.

With $1.3 billion in revenue and more than 300 million users, OnlyFans has fused sex work with the online creator economy so successfully that it has branched out into comedy, music, and motor racing.

Ofcom said its investigation found that OnlyFans had told the regulator that its technology used live selfies submitted by users to estimate their age, which was a "challenger age" of 23 years old when, instead, it was set at 20 years.

Fenix notified the regulator of its error in disclosing the age last year, Ofcom said, adding that the company had elected to raise the threshold to 23 years in January 2025, but lowered it to 21 years within a few days.

"Receiving accurate and complete information is fundamental for Ofcom to do its job as a regulator and to understand and monitor how platforms are operating," its enforcement director, Suzanne Cater, said in a statement.

"We will hold platforms to high standards and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where we find failings."

A spokesperson for OnlyFans welcomed the regulator's decision to close the investigation related to UK onboarding and said the platform "recognizes the importance of providing Ofcom with accurate and timely information."