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Age checks helping make online experiences safer for UK children, but 'job not done' and ...
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Fusion42 · 16 July 2026 · Fusion42 review
Ofcom reports that age checks on UK adult sites have doubled in effectiveness over six months, but finds serious gaps: TikTok faces formal investigation for weak age-inference methods, search engines return porn sites without age checks, and the regulator warns social media companies that age-inference alone will not meet the forthcoming under-16s ban.
This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Enterprise Software.
◆ ◆ The Wire takeaway
If you build age-verification or content-moderation tech for social platforms or search, Ofcom just told the market which methods don't work—and investigation of TikTok signals enforcement teeth. Age inference is now a liability; the regulator will demand proof or force a switch to your alternative.
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1 source · 16 Jul 2026
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