Ofcom has opened an investigation into Novi Ltd, which provides an AI character companion
chatbot service, about its compliance with age check requirements under the Online
Safety Act (OSA). In late 2025, Novi’s service had an approximate global reach of nearly 6.5 million monthly users, and between 100,000 and 300,000 monthly users in the UK.
Under the OSA, sites that allow pornographic material must use highly effective age
assurance to prevent children from accessing that content. Ofcom will gather and analyse
evidence to determine whether Novi Ltd has breached these rules. If Ofcom deems a
compliance failure to have taken place, it will issue a provisional decision to which the
company may respond.
Back in December, Ofcom issued guidance about AI chatbots and online regulation. They are covered by the OSA if they fall into the categories of user-to-user services; search services or pornographic websites.
Ofcom has also provided updates on other enforcement action. It has has confirmed that in response to action from its enforcement team, Snapchat has improved its illegal content risk assessment which will require it to implement a broad range of safety measures in line with Ofcom’s codes of practice.
After reviewing Snapchat’s illegal content risk assessment, it raised concerns about its
suitability and sufficiency. Following an initial revised version which did not adequately
address Ofcom’s concerns, particularly about the likelihood of illegal content or activity
occurring on the platform, there has been a significant change in its revised risk assessment.
This will make sure that Snapchat puts a broad range of safety measures in place, which will be
subject to scrutiny from Ofcom, including how effective they are at mitigating harm to people.
Ofcom has also expanded the scope of two existing investigations into compliance of
pornography providers First Time Videos LLC and Sun Social Media Inc with age check
requirements. Ofcom has added one further site operated by Sun Social Media, and is
investigating whether First Time Videos has responded adequately to a statutory information
request from Ofcom.
