The debut of “Industry” Season 4 addresses the matter of online age verification, with the London-set series presenting an Online Safety Bill akin to the UK’s age-verification legislation. This law mandates age checks on sites featuring explicit content to deter minors from accessing them, utilizing methods such as facial recognition and banking details. Similar laws are being introduced in the United States and worldwide, but specialists caution about possible security and privacy concerns.
Age verification becomes a focal point in “Industry” Season 4’s debut. Although the show’s creators, Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, began work on the season prior to age verification emerging as a significant issue in the UK, the subject is now greatly pertinent. Previous endeavors at age verification in the UK fell short in 2019 and 2022, with the law set to officially commence in July 2025.
Kay indicated that they scripted and filmed the topic without insider insight. This prescience benefits “Industry,” as Season 4’s emphasis on age verification illustrates the show’s capacity to remain relevant in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
In the Season 4 premiere, named “PayPal of Bukkake,” the Online Safety Bill triggers considerable transformations at the fintech firm Tender. Once a payment processor for adult websites, including “Industry’s” OnlyFans counterpart Siren, Tender intends to pivot away from adult content to enhance its reputation.
This is not the first occasion that “Industry” has delved into the realm of pornography. In Season 3, Pierpoint graduate Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche) juggled a side job on OnlyFans. In Season 4, Down and Kay aimed to further investigate her sex work, representing it as more exploitative.
Down acknowledged the ambiguity in Sweetpea’s narrative, pondering whether it embodies empowerment or exploitation. Kay remarked that the intersection of pornography, smartphones, and the commercialization of selfhood resonates with the zeitgeist of 2025 capitalism, prompting them to lean into this theme.
Season 4 also probes deeper into government involvement. The emphasis on pornography and age verification enabled Down and Kay to weave the UK government into the season, as age verification has been a “political football” for an extended period. In “Industry,” the Labour government advocates for the bill, thus engaging with Tender.
Down characterized the Labour Party as ideologically intricate and compromised, with lofty ideals yet supported by the same financial and media frameworks as the Conservative government. While age verification is pivotal in the debut, the season’s primary focus is on what unfolds with Tender.
“Industry” frequently introduces a significant theme in the premiere before transitioning to something unforeseen. Season 3 began with Lumi’s IPO but evolved into Pierpoint’s self-destruction. In Season 4, it commences with the Online Safety Bill and pornography but shifts to a narrative about the payment processor.
Down and Kay craft a narrative involving pornography, digital privacy, the role of money in governance, dubious business practices, and authoritarianism. It’s a multifaceted story, but “Industry” maintains mastery. Kay emphasized that these subjects form part of a capitalist conundrum, with overlaps among them.
New episodes of “Industry” Season 4 air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.