Overview
- Ofcom has issued a formal directive requiring X to deploy “highly effective” age assurance measures by this Friday or risk fines up to 10% of global turnover or a UK operating ban
- The mandate stems from new children’s codes under the Online Safety Act that compel all services hosting pornography to verify user ages using methods such as open banking checks, photo ID matching and AI-driven facial age estimation
- PornHub and 12 other major adult websites have already committed to implement the regulator’s approved verification systems ahead of the July 25 compliance deadline
- Research by Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza shows that 41% of 16- to 21-year-olds reported encountering sexual content on X, underscoring the platform’s vulnerability to underage access
- Concerns over child safety intensified after xAI’s chatbot ‘girlfriend’, available to users as young as 12, prompted warnings about the potential for grooming and misleading interactions