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The UK is tightening up the way people access porn online by legally requiring websites to verify the age of their users.
On Tuesday, the UK government announced the bill, describing it as a “world-leading measure” designed to protect children from accessing pornography online. They say pornography websites will need to install “robust checks” to ensure their users are 18 years old or over. That means it’s unlikely to be just an “I am over 18” tickbox, but may rely on secure age verification technology through a credit card or a third-party service to confirm their age against government data.
If sites fail to put in age restrictions, the media regulator Ofcom will be able to fine the website up to 10 percent of their annual global turnover and has the power to block them from being accessed in the UK.
“It is too easy for children to access pornography online. Parents deserve peace of mind that their children are protected online from seeing things no child should see,” said UK Digital Minister Chris Philp.
The UK’s leading Conservative party has been looking to implement these kinds of measures for several years. Snuck in under the Digital Economy Act 2017, the government hoped to have the plan in place by April 2018, but the plan has met numerous hurdles and setbacks.
Some critics have previously raised ethical and cybersecurity concerns about the plans. The need to have a sturdy age-verification system would likely require a data bank gathering huge amounts of sensitive information about people's private lives. If a data breach occurred, hackers could potentially get their hands on the personal information, sexual preferences, and credit card details of everyone in the UK who’s ever watched porn. Furthermore, many argued the plan is fraught with practical difficulties too.
“They’re suggesting GDPR [current UK data protection laws] will be sufficient, but I personally argue the type of data being held is much more sensitive, and this won’t carry enough weight,” Myles Jackman, one of the UK’s leading obscenity and pornography lawyers, told IFLScience in 2019 when the plan first gained media attention.
“In practical terms, this is unworkable,” Jackman continued.
"It is just intended to protect younger children," he added. "The child protection imperative is very important, but I don't think it will protect children from the most serious concerns. It’s virtually impossible to take a determined teenager and stop them from looking at these materials.”
