UK Government launches consultation into porn access age regulation
The British Government has launched a consultation over age checks for porn websites.
The proposals, as detailed in the Tory Part manifesto, suggest that “all sites containing pornographic material”, must all check that users are 18 years old or older.
The Government is requesting that internet providers, charities and academics, as well as others, contribute to the consultation.
However, a security expert has already cast doubt on the plans, saying the proposals would be difficult to implement on sites where porn is freely accessible.
According to the consultation document, content which receives a rating of 18 or R18 from the BBFC.
“We are keen to hear from parents, schools, child protection experts, the pornography industry, internet service providers and online platforms that provide access to pornographic content,” the consultation document reads.
Baroness Shields, the Internet Safety and Security Minister told the BBC: “Just as we do offline, we want to make sure children are prevented from accessing pornographic content online which should only be viewed by adults.”
And the consultation has been welcomed by charities such as the NSPCC.
Peter Wanless, the chief executive of the charity said the matter was “a matter of urgency”.
He said children who view porn could develop a “warped” view of sexual relationships.
The Culture Secretary Sajid Javid, before the general election, said the regulator in charge of the changes, would be able to force internet providers to block sites if they do not perform age checks.
In addition, he said there would be fines for those which do not comply.
Ofcom’s guidance for age checks online for video content recommends confirmation of credit card ownership and electoral register cross-checks for age verification.
The move has been compared to age checks for the gambling industry, which is already required to check ages.
Dr Victoria Nash, at the Oxford Internet Institute, said it was likely that porn sites would use similar measures to the gambling sites.
But Dr Gilad Rosner, a member of the Cabinet Office Privacy and Consumer Advocacy Group, said she thought it would have no effect on sources of free porn.
“My initial response to this release is that while the UK government may get some traction with payment processors, and that that could have some effect, it won’t affect the free pornography,” he said.
“I would wager that we won’t see much in the way of tangible results for the next five years,” he continued.
“This is a particularly challenging regulatory goal.”
Pornhub has already said it will comply with the new regulations.
