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Ofcom has been accused of “trivializing” violence against women and girls after a senior staff member jokingly promoted a role overseeing the porn industry.
“Have you always wanted to work in porn but don't have the chops for an OnlyFans? Now's your chance!” says a post on LinkedIn, which draws attention to a “supervisory associate” position advertised by the media regulator.
Campaigners have branded the message “reprehensible” and say Ofcom sees the treatment of porn sites as a “benefit” and fails to “understand the impact of pornography on children”.
In a statement, Ofcom told the BBC it was “an error by a well-meaning colleague wishing to draw attention to a recruitment role”.
“They acknowledged the post was ill-advised and apologized,” they said.
“Ofcom takes its role as regulator of online safety very seriously and we work hard to find the best people to help us carry out this task.”
“Cry of pain”
The post – which was appreciated by a number of senior Ofcom officials – was heavily criticized by Baroness Kidron, a colleague who campaigns online for children's rights.
She said she had received the announcement dozens of times and responded with a “cry of pain.”
“The advert trivializes the issue of violence against women and girls,” she told the BBC.
“Ofcom doesn't understand their role. They are all we have between us and the most powerful companies in the world. We need adults who want results that change people's lives for the better.”
Her concerns were echoed by Gemma Kelly, head of policy and public affairs at CEASE, a charity which seeks to tackle sexual exploitation in the UK.
“A representative from Ofcom – the organization responsible for regulating harmful content online – joking about an industry that normalizes violence against women, monetizes sexual assault and encourages objectification is completely reprehensible,” -she writes.
Others working in the charity sector responded to him, with one person calling an Ofcom staff member's post “grossly offensive” and another calling it “deeply inappropriate and disturbing”.
The LinkedIn post – and subsequent editing
The LinkedIn post was written by an Ofcom employee who describes himself as a “director of online safety oversight”, in which he “leads a team responsible for engagement with online pornography services “.
“I wanted to raise my hand and apologize for the tone of the message below,” he wrote in an update to his original LinkedIn post.
“It was poorly judged and I apologize for the offense I caused,” he added.
He says the advertised position involves “collaborating with online pornography services” to combat illegal content and restrict access to children.
He adds that his team also works to understand existing security measures and assess how well they protect users.
Ofcom is gaining sweeping new enforcement powers for porn sites and many other digital services following the Online Safety Act, which partly comes into force in 2025.
