The U.K. government has said it will introduce mandatory age verification for all adult websites, to make sure those accessing them are over the age of 18, and that it’ll hold the companies that produce and publish the content responsible for introducing the eventual system. Furthermore, sanctions will be placed on sites that don’t follow the new rules, which will be overseen by an as yet unnamed regulator. These rules will apply to “all sites containing pornographic material.”
A public consultation on the proposed rule will take place between now and April 12, and comes after the government sought the opinion and advice of Internet providers, search companies, charities, and other affected businesses. The proposal states a new legal requirement will be put into place, where age verification controls must be enforced by all online adult content providers in the U.K.. Additionally, a new regulatory framework will also be created.
The new regulator will be responsible for checking compliance, and the law will include the ability to impose sanctions on any sites not complying with the new rules. Following on, the proposal also wants to give businesses whose services are used by the sites — including payments and advertising — the ability to withdraw in the event of non-compliance.
The announcement is a continuation of the U.K. government’s fight to protect children online, and its efforts to make adult material harder for those under the age of 18 to view. It’s not a new scheme, with a network provider “opt-in” for adult content being introduced, and ongoing discussion regarding a content filter.
However, while a mandatory age verification system seemingly avoids censorship controversy, the lack of detail on what form the system will take is concerning. When the government’s age verification plan was being discussed last year, the idea was to use information on file from official bodies and verified businesses. For example, using anonymised work and pension data or online accounts from utility providers to prove age. While less intrusive than a credit check, there are still concerns about identities being cross-linked with web browsing history.
This aside, it’s also a difficult system to implement, given the global nature of the Internet. Do the rules only apply to U.K. adult websites — already heavily censored and usually hidden behind paywalls anyway — and how will it affect sites hosted outside of the U.K.? If free adult sites from outside the country are still accessible, what good will the age verification do? None of this is addressed in the initial press release, and we’ve contacted the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport for comment. We’ll update here when we get a response.
