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On 27 March 2025, the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, imposed a financial penalty of GBP 1.05 million on Fenix International Limited, the company behind OnlyFans, following an investigation into its age assurance practices. The penalty stems from Fenix’s failure to provide accurate and complete responses to two statutory information requests concerning its age verification systems on the adult content platform. Following an investigation launched in May 2024 under the video-sharing platform (VSP) framework (introduced in 2020 by Part 4B of the Communications Act 2003), Ofcom...

On 4 March 2025, the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media) published the draft 2025 Policy Rule on the qualification of on-demand commercial media services (draft 2025 Policy Rule). It will replace the previous policy rule adopted in 2022 (2022 Policy Rule). Both the 2022 Policy Rule as well as the draft 2025 Policy Rule are based on the Dutch Media Act of 2008 (the Act), which was amended in 2020 in the course of the implementation of revised Directive 2010/13/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 March 2010 on the coordination of certain provisions laid down by...

Amended by the Loi visant à sécuriser et réguler l'espace numérique (Law aiming to secure and regulate the digital space) of 21 May 2024, Articles 10 et seq. of the Loi pour la confiance dans l'économie numérique (Law on confidence in the digital economy) gave the Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuelle et numérique (French audiovisual regulator – ARCOM) the power to impose financial penalties against and block or delist pornographic websites that remain accessible to minors in violation of Article 227-24...

On 23 January 2025, the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, imposed a GBP 7 000 fine on UK-based video-sharing platform (VSP) MintStars for failing to adequately protect minors from explicit content. The regulator determined that the platform’s safeguards, relying on user self-declaration and disclaimers, were insufficient under the Communications Act 2003. Ofcom’s investigation and findings Earlier on 27 February 2024, Ofcom launched an investigation into MintStars to determine whether it had complied with its statutory obligations under Part 4B of the Communications...

On 18 December 2024, the Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media – CvdM) and the video-sharing platform Snapchat, jointly adopted a code of conduct under the Dutch Media Act, which implements the EU’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD) (see IRIS 2021-1/24). Snapchat is a video-sharing platform and app “designed for people ages 13 and up” which operates throughout the EU, and is established in the Netherlands. Notably, Snapchat is considered a video-sharing platform under the Dutch Media Act and the AVMSD. Under Article 3a(3) of the Dutch Media Act, video-sharing...