Major pornography sites to implement age verification in Britain

UPI

5 hours ago

Pornhub and other major adult websites will be implementing a 'highly effective' age verification from the 25th of July in the U.K. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
June 26 (UPI) -- Pornhub and other major pornographic websites plan to implement age verification practices in Britain by the end of July in order to comply with a newly implemented Online Safety Act.
Aylo the parent company of Pornhub and various other pornography sharing websites and filming studios said it plans to implement "government approved age assurance methods" by July 25.
The Online Safety Act deadline requires pornographic websites to implement "robust" age verification methods by that date or face fines.
The company did not specify what methods it would implement but British regulator Ofcom has listed several acceptable methods, including facial age estimation, open banking, digital identity services, credit card age checks, email-based age estimation, mobile network operator age checks, and photo ID-matching.
"Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren't suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling," said Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's group director of online safety, in a statement.
"Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s."
New Ofcom research found that 8% of children between the ages of 8 and 14 accessed a porngraphy site or app over a 28-day period, including 19% boys and 11% of girls from 13 to 14 years old.
It also found that 3% of 8 to 9-year-olds -- the youngest demographic in the study -- had accessed pornography during the survey period.
"We know that highly effective age assurance can play a vital role in protecting young users from accessing harmful and inappropriate material on social media and other platforms," said Rani Govender, policy manager for child safety online at the NSPCC.
"It is time tech companies take responsibility for ensuring children have safe, age-appropriate experiences online, and we welcome the progress that Ofcom are making in this space," continued Govender.
According to data from Similiarweb, Pornhub is the most visited porn site around the world.
Aylo's vice president of brand and community Alex Kekesi said Ofcom age verification steps were less intrusive compared to ones that have been pushed for before.
"Ofcom recognizes the scale of the challenge ahead and is approaching it with thorough consideration," she said.
The regulations require that the verification methods don't impede adults from accessing legal pornographic content or put their private information at risk.
Marcus Johnstone from PCD Solicitors said that age checks may not address the problem but instead would bring more attention to the dark web.
"I have cases where clients as young as 14 access the dark web," he added.
"In one case, my client, aged 15, accessed the dark web to buy drugs but also then found access to extreme illegal pornography."
"Any teenager with a phone can now watch and read content that is both illegal and heinous, and is unregulated by any company or agency."
"It is the dark web that is the greatest menace to our society and is a gateway to a world of abuse, exploitation and radicalisation. This is where better policing is required."