Deepfake ‘nudify’ site fined £55,000 over lack of age checks

The operator of a so-called “nudification” site has been fined for failing to put in age verification measures, which are required under online safety laws.

The regulator Ofcom investigated Itai Tech Ltd, which provides AI tools allowing users to edit images to seemingly remove someone’s clothing.

On Thursday, Ofcom said it had fined the company £50,000 for its age check failings, plus an additional £5,000 for not responding to its information requests.

BBC News has contacted Itai Tech Ltd for comment.

The nudity website it runs is currently not accessible from a UK IP address., and documents on Companies House show Itai Tech Ltd recently applied to strike itself off the UK register of companies.

Ofcom said its fine accounted for the company’s decision to make its site unavailable to UK users, which it said occurred shortly after the investigation started in May.

“The use of highly effective age assurance to protect children from harmful pornographic content is non-negotiable and we will accept no excuses for failure,” said Suzanne Cater, director of enforcement at Ofcom.

“Any service which fails to meet their age-check duties under the Online Safety Act can expect to face robust enforcement action, including significant fines.”

This is the regulator’s second fine imposed under the law – which requires pornographic websites to verify users are over 18.

Its first fine was to online message board 4chan, which it said had not responded to requests for information about measures required to prevent people from accessing illegal content.

Ofcom had set a deadline of 13 November to pay the £20,000 fine.

But a lawyer for the US-based company previously told the BBC it had no intention of paying, accusing the regulator of overreach and censorship.

If companies do not pay up, the regulator can seek to recover fines through legal action, or apply for court orders to instruct internet providers to limit access to the site.

Since 25 July, sites hosting age-restricted content have to have “highly effective age assurance” methods in place to make sure children cannot access them.

These include age verification tools such as facial age estimation, which must be “robust” in deducing whether a user is over 18.

Ofcom has also opened new investigations into 20 further porn sites – bringing the number of sites and apps it is investigating for suspected Online Safety Act breaches to 76.

Meanwhile, recent reports suggest the government may look to ban so-called “nudifying” or “declothing” apps as part of further efforts to tackle deepfake intimate image abuse.