Motherless.com Being Investigated by Ofcom

LONDON—Ofcom, the United Kingdom's communications regulator, announced that it is investigating adult tube website Motherless.com for Online Safety Act violations. In a statement on Wednesday, Ofcom said that two investigations were initiated via its enforcement powers targeting the parent company of Motherless, a company called Kick Online Entertainment S.A. In a statement, Ofcom indicated that Motherless was accused of hosting child sexual abuse material and "legal but harmful" extreme pornography content. "We have received complaints about the potential for illegal content and activity on this site, including child sexual abuse material and extreme pornography," notes the press statement posted to Ofcom's website. "In light of this, we will also be considering whether the provider has put appropriate safety measures in place to protect its U.K. users from illegal content and activity, and may launch an additional investigation into its compliance with this duty if appropriate." Ofcom noted that it required Motherless.com's owners to "submit the record of its illegal content risk assessment to us so we could consider whether it is compliant with its duties," under the Online Safety Act. "Having received no response to our request, we have today launched investigations into whether this provider has failed in its duties to: complete—and keep a record of—a suitable and sufficient illegal content risk assessment and; respond to a statutory information request." An illegal content risk assessment informs Ofcom and its enforcement team of what a website does to counter illegal material like CSAM or revenge porn. And, a statutory information request seeks documentation of what the website has done to complete the required assessment, so as to steer "how [Ofcom] carries out its statutory functions as a regulator," according to Ofcom's statement and reporting by Reuters.