Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Porn sites in UK will have to check ages in planned update to online safety bill

Porn sites in UK will have to check ages in planned update to online safety bill

Digital minister Chris Philp says it is too easy for children to access pornography online
The government has revived plans to make pornography websites carry out age checks, which would require British users to provide data such as their credit card or passport details to prove they are over 18.

Ministers said the forthcoming online safety bill will be altered to ensure that commercial porn sites are brought within its scope, updating the draft legislation, which now applies to providers of user-generated pornography such as OnlyFans.

The digital minister, Chris Philp, said 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,” he said. “We are now strengthening the online safety bill so it applies to all porn sites to ensure we achieve our aim of making the internet a safer place for children.”

The policy of introducing age checks on pornography was first announced by the Conservatives during the 2015 general election campaign but has repeatedly run into difficulties. Two years ago the government abandoned its previous plans to introduce age verification for adult sites when faced with technical difficulties, concerns from privacy campaigners and a legislative oversight.

The government said that any age assurance method used by pornography sites would have to protect users’ privacy. However, individual companies will be allowed to decide how to comply with the new rule, although the communications regulator, Ofcom, may recommend some age-checking technologies.

More than a third of the British population are estimated to watch online pornography, according to estimates by the age verification industry, meaning it could be an enormous technical challenge to check all their ages – and a potential big business for the companies that carry out the checks.

Privacy campaigners have previously warned that requiring users of porn websites to log in could make it easier to collect – and leak – data on an individual’s viewing habits. Smaller pornography producers have complained that the change could also favour websites owned by the global pornography giant MindGeek, such as PornHub and YouPorn, which has developed its own age verification service.

Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights group, said: “There is no indication that this proposal will protect people from tracking and profiling porn viewing. We have to assume the same basic mistakes about privacy and security may be about to be made again.”

Pornography outlets that fail to comply with the new legislation face being fined 10% of their income, or being blocked by UK internet service providers.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said potential solutions include checking a user’s age against data held by the mobile phone provider, using a credit card check or government database checks including passport data.

The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) said a range of age assurance methods can be used, including artificial intelligence programmes that estimate a user’s age from a selfie.

Iain Corby, executive director of the AVPA, said a “double blind” method would ensure user privacy by concealing the user’s identity from commercial pornography websites, while the age verifier would not retain any data identifying which website the user visits.

Despite the abandonment of previous attempts to introduce age assurance for adult sites, the issue has remained on the political agenda. Last year the UK’s data watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office, introduced the children’s code, which is designed to prevent websites and apps misusing children’s data, with age assurance – the broad term for methods used to determined someone’s age online – among the options.

John Carr of the UK Children’s Charities’ Coalition on Internet Safety has argued that the ICO should use the children’s code to force pornography websites to introduce age assurance – an argument the data watchdog has rejected.

Andy Burrows, head of child safety online policy at the NSPCC, said: “It’s right the government has listened to calls to fix one of the gaps in the online safety bill and protect children from pornography wherever it’s hosted.”
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
US Administration Under President Donald Trump Reportedly Lifts Ban on Ukraine’s Use of Storm Shadow Missiles Against Russia
White House Announces No Imminent Summit Between Trump and Putin
China Presses Netherlands to “properly” Resolve the Nexperia Seizure as Supply Chain Risks Grow
Merz Attacks Migrants, Sparks Uproar, and Refuses to Apologize: “Ask Your Daughters”
Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Crackdown in Landmark Court Battle
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
×