‘Playboy’ Fined $160,000 For Offering Porn On Websites Accessible To Kids


Playboy has been fined $160,000 (£100,000) in total by UK broadcast media regulator Ofcom for offering hardcore porn videos and pornographic images online that could be accessed by children.

Two websites owned by PlayboyPlayboy TV and Demand Adult — allowed user access to extreme material without having acceptable controls in place to check the users were aged 18 or over.

The websites came under Ofcom’s jurisdiction because they provide access to videos in a similar way to adult content that is broadcast on television.

Ofcom fined the Playboy TV website for requiring users to self-certify their age with just a debit card rather than a credit card, which requires a basic age limit of 18.

But the lack of online controls to check user ages was a problem at bothPlayboy‘s Demand Adult website and Playboy TV, although at Playboy TV — unlike Demand Adult — the home page showed sexual activity without explicit detail, said Rye And Battle Observer.

The regulator also found that Playboy‘s Demand Adult homepage allowed access to view pornographic material without the debit card threshold, which then took the user to more extreme content.

As a result, Demand Adult was fined $104,000 (£65,000) and Playboy TV was fined $56,000 (£35,000) for their lack of an effective age verification system.

Ofcom said Playboy‘s failure to have proper controls to stop young people accessing two of its websites was “serious, repeated, and reckless,” The Guardian reports.

Previously in 2011, the Playboy TV channel was fined for airing a television advertising for adult sex chat material.

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