UK"s Digital Minister Chris Philp has announced the Online Safety Bill on the occasion of Safer Internet Day. According to this bill, pornography sites will implement age verification technology to ensure their visitors are over 18 years old. This could include a credit card verification technology or a third-party service to confirm their age against government data.
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.
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."
A similar system was introduced back in 2019 after which it got delayed and was ultimately scrapped. Now, the bill is set to get implemented. All the sites that publish pornography must comply with the new bill, which includes user-generated porn websites as well. If websites fail to comply, they will attract a fine of 10% of their annual worldwide turnover or could get banned from access in the UK.
The bill is intended to prevent unauthorized access from minors or children. A large amount of pornography that is available on the internet has little or no protection to ensure those who are accessing it are old enough to do so. This is impacting the way young people understand healthy relationships, sex, and consent.
Porn websites often give an unrealistic view of sex and even a poor portrayal of women. Age verification will ensure that children will be better protected, making the internet a safer place indeed.