Ofcom and OnlyFans: Every Move the UK Regulator Has Made, 2022 to 2026

Ofcom is the UK regulator that polices online safety, and OnlyFans is one of the platforms it watches most closely. Since 2022 it has sent the company formal information requests, opened an investigation, fined its owner £1.05 million and brought in age checks and leak rules that change how UK fans and creators use the site.

This is the full record, built from Ofcom’s own publications. Every date links to its source. At the end we cover what it actually means if you run an OnlyFans page.

The short version

• OnlyFans is regulated in the UK. The duties sit with the platform’s owner, Fenix International Limited, not with individual creators.
• Its owner has already been fined. £1.05 million in March 2025, for giving Ofcom inaccurate information about its age checks.
• UK fans prove their age. Since 25 July 2025, porn services in the UK need “highly effective” age checks. Facial age estimation is the most common method.
• Leaks got new tools in 2026. Ofcom now recommends hash matching against databases like StopNCII, in force since 30 September 2026, and a new law adds a 48-hour takedown duty for intimate images shared without consent.

2022 to 2024: the information requests

Ofcom sent Fenix formal information requests in June 2022 and June 2023. Both asked about OnlyFans’ age checks, including how accurate its third-party facial age estimation was.

Fenix told Ofcom the “challenge age” was 23. That is the age below which the system asks a user for more proof. In fact it had been set to 20 since 1 November 2021. Fenix found out from its technology provider on 4 January 2024 and told Ofcom on 22 January 2024.

Ofcom opened an investigation on 1 May 2024. Its later finding: it took over 16 months for the company to discover that the information it had given was wrong. Source: Ofcom.

February 2025: the under-18 question is closed

On 4 February 2025, Reuters reported that Ofcom had closed the part of its investigation into whether under-18s were getting onto OnlyFans. It kept investigating whether the company had answered its information requests completely and accurately. Ofcom’s supervision team kept working with OnlyFans on how it protects children. Source: Reuters.

March 2025: the £1.05 million fine

On 27 March 2025, Ofcom fined Fenix International £1.05 million. It found that the company had breached its duty to give accurate and complete answers to two statutory information requests. The fine includes a 30% reduction because Fenix accepted the findings and settled. The money goes to HM Treasury.

Suzanne Cater, Ofcom’s Enforcement Director, said: “We will hold platforms to high standards and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where we find failings.” Source: Ofcom.

Worth knowing: the fine was about the information Ofcom was given, not a finding that children were using the site. That is the distinction most headlines skipped.

July 2025: age checks for UK fans

From 25 July 2025, services that show porn in the UK have had to use “highly effective” age assurance under the Online Safety Act. We covered the day-to-day effect on UK creators in our Online Safety Act guide.

A year later, Ofcom published its first report on how that went. Over 69 million age checks were completed between July and December 2025 across the 32 services it analysed, and Ofcom says the true UK total is likely higher. Facial age estimation made up 68% of completed checks on porn services. We broke the full report down in one year of UK age checks. Source: Ofcom.

April and May 2026: new rules on intimate images

Two things landed in spring 2026, and both matter for leaks.

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 (Osborne Clarke). It amends the Online Safety Act so regulated platforms must take down intimate images shared without consent within 48 hours of a valid report. It also bans tools built to generate intimate images, with up to 3 years in prison for the people who make or supply them (GOV.UK factsheet).

Ofcom’s hash-matching recommendation came on 18 May 2026. Certain sites and apps should check uploads against a hash database “equivalent to or better than” StopNCII, the leading one, so known intimate images shared without consent are caught on upload. The amendments were issued on 9 September 2026 and have been in force since 30 September 2026 (Ofcom statement).

What this does and does not do for paid content that gets leaked is the subject of our guide to leaks under UK law. The short answer: it helps, but it does not replace copyright takedowns.

What it means if you run an OnlyFans page

• You are not the one being regulated. Age checks, information requests and the takedown duty sit with the platform. You do not need your own age-check system for UK fans.
• UK fans have one more step. Most of them pass a face scan or an ID check once. Some may drop off at that step, so a small dip in new UK subscribers is not automatically a problem with your page.
• Leaks have a second route in the UK. Copyright takedowns are still the main tool. The 48-hour report and hash matching are extra pressure on the sites that host leaks.
• The rules keep moving. Ofcom says it will deliver a rapid assessment of over-16 age verification by the end of October 2026 and an app store report by January 2027. If you promote to UK audiences, check back.

If you would rather not track any of this yourself, it is part of what we handle for UK creators. Our leak protection sends most takedown notices within 24 hours of finding a leak, and our UK page covers the rest.

Sources

Every Ofcom quote and figure above is Ofcom copyright, reproduced under Ofcom’s copyright and re-use terms from these publications:

• Ofcom fines provider of OnlyFans £1.05 million (Ofcom, 27 March 2025)
• Report on the use of age assurance (Ofcom, 15 July 2026)
• Statement: Detecting intimate image abuse (Ofcom, 18 May 2026, updated 9 September 2026)
• Platforms should use detection technology to stop spread of illegal intimate images online, under strengthened Ofcom Codes (Ofcom, 18 May 2026)

Also used: Crime and Policing Act 2026: intimate image abuse factsheet (GOV.UK, contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0), Osborne Clarke on the Crime and Policing Act 2026 and Reuters via Global Banking & Finance Review (4 February 2025). This article is our summary, not legal advice, and Ofcom has not reviewed or endorsed it.

Questions creators ask