Ofcom has fined notorious online forum 4chan £450,000 for not having age checks in place to prevent children from seeing pornography on its site.

The online safety watchdog hs also fined the company a further £50,000 for not assessing the risk of illegal material appearing on its platform, and £20,000 for not setting out in its terms of service how it protects people from criminal content.

Last year, the Children’s Commissioner found that 59% of children had stumbled across pornography accidentally, without looking for it. Since then, rules under the UK’s Online Safety Act have come into force, meaning sites that host pornographic material must use highly effective age assurance to prevent children from readily accessing sensitive content.

As in other industries, companies that provide an online service to people in the UK must comply with UK laws. The Online Safety Act is concerned with protecting people in the UK. It does not require platforms to restrict what people in other countries can see.

Data shows that nearly 80% of the top 100 pornography sites in the UK now have age checks in place. This means that on average, every day, over 7 million visitors from the UK are accessing pornography services that have deployed age assurance.

Following Ofcom’s investigation and imposing of the fine, 4chan will have until 2 April to implement highly effective age assurance or face a daily penalty of £500. It must also carry out a suitable and sufficient illegal content risk assessment by the same deadline or face a £200 per day penalty.

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Furthermore, it must specify in its terms of service how individuals are protected from illegal content or face a daily fine of £100.

“Companies – wherever they’re based – are not allowed to sell unsafe toys to children in the UK. And society has long protected youngsters from things like alcohol, smoking and gambling. The digital world should be no different,” Suzanne Cater, director of enforcement at Ofcom, said.

“The UK is setting new standards for online safety. Age checks and risk assessments are cornerstones of our laws, and we’ll take robust enforcement action against firms that fall short.”