Online pornography services will be required to install “highly effective” age checks to protect children, Ofcom has announced.
“Sites and apps that display or publish pornographic content must ensure that children are not normally able to encounter pornography on their service,” the guidance said.
Age checks would include photo ID matching, facial age estimation, and credit card checks.
This non-exhaustive list of methods is meant to strengthen checks that are not deemed effective enough, such as self-declaration of age and general disclaimers or warnings.
Websites will need to ensure that a user can consent to their bank sharing information confirming they are over 18. Users can also upload a photo ID, such as a driving licence or passport to verify their identity.
Credit card checks involve matching details with a person’s bank account to prove they are over 18.
Users can also share their digital identity wallets with online pornography services to prove they are not underage.
“Pornography is too readily accessible to children online, and the new online safety laws are clear that must change,” said Ofcom’s Chief Executive Dame Melanie Dawes.
She added that Ofcom expects all services to offer “robust protection to children from stumbling across pornography, and also to take care that privacy rights and freedoms for adults to access legal content are safeguarded.”
Ofcom assured that users’ personal data will be protected, citing the UK’s privacy laws, which are overseen and enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Addressing freedom of speech and access to information concerns, Ofcom said that it doesn’t want to unduly prevent adults from accessing legal content. Age assurance checks should be “easy to use and work for all users,” the watchdog said.
Harmful Content
According to Ofcom figures, on average children first see online pornography at the age of 13, while nearly a quarter come across it by the age of 11. One in 10 children first see online pornography as young as 9.It isn’t illegal in the UK for under 18s to watch porn. However, it is against the law to show pornographic content to anyone under the age of 16 or give them access to it.
The NSPCC has also warned about the effect of porn addiction on children.
“Some young people worry that they watch too much pornography, and might feel like they can’t stop viewing it. This can make them feel guilty or ashamed, and they may want help to stop viewing pornography,” the charity said.
Ofcom has argued that effective access controls should prevent its harmful effects on children, who stumble across pornography or try to access it online.
The watchdog specified to providers that illegal content must not be “visible to users before, or during, the process of completing an age check.”
The Online Safety Act covers websites that primarily publish and sell access to pornographic content and user-to-user services, which allow users to post their own content, such as social media platforms. The latter is harder to moderate and regulate at scale.
The British Board of Film Classification has reported that in 2020, more of the respondents in a 16- and 17-year-olds survey (63 percent) had seen pornography on social media platforms than on pornographic websites (47 percent).
Ofcom has warned that online pornography services that fall short of complying with its guidance will face enforcement action, including possible fines.
The final guidance is expected to be published in early 2025, after which the government will bring these duties into force, the regulator added.
