UK regulator issues guidance on age checks for pornography websites

On 14 January 2026, the Office of Communications (Ofcom) released guidance on how pornography websites should implement age checks to comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act. The guidance is intended to help online services understand their legal obligations and to ensure that pornographic material is not accessible to children.

What the guidance is about

Under the Online Safety Act, all online services that provide access to pornography are required to use what the law describes as highly effective age verification. This requirement has applied since 25 July 2025. The new Ofcom guidance focuses specifically on where age checks must appear on a website or service, an issue known as the ‘placement’ of age assurance.

In simple terms, placement refers to the point at which a user is asked to prove their age. Ofcom’s position is that users must not be able to see any pornographic content before the age check has been completed.

Different ways age checks are used

The guidance identifies four main models that websites currently use to place age checks.

One model is the ‘front gate’, where users must confirm their age before accessing any part of the site. Another is the ‘blur gate’, which allows access to a page but obscures images or videos until age is verified. The ‘image gate’ applies age checks before individual images are shown, while the ‘in-video gate’ requires verification partway through a video.

Ofcom explains that not all of these approaches meet the legal standard. In particular, if a user can see explicit images, previews, or video content before completing an age check, the service is unlikely to be compliant.

What Ofcom considers compliant

According to the guidance, age assurance must be applied at the point of entry or in a way that fully prevents pornographic content from being visible before verification. Ofcom identifies the front gate approach as the compliant standard. This applies to both professionally published pornography and user-generated content hosted on platforms.

The regulator’s position is that front gate checks provide the clearest and most reliable way to stop underage users from being exposed to explicit material.

Why this matters

The guidance is part of the UK’s broader effort to reduce online harms and strengthen protections for children. By clarifying how age checks should work in practice, Ofcom aims to create more consistent enforcement of the law and reduce ambiguity for online services.

For websites that host or distribute pornographic content, the guidance signals that technical design choices are not just a matter of preference. How and where age checks are placed can determine whether a service is complying with the law or facing regulatory action.