UK Internet age verification system
Originally proposed in the Digital Economy Act 2017, the UK has for many years sought to introduce a mandatory age verification system for internet pornography. In 2019, following several delays and setbacks, the government ceased progressing its duties under the Act that would have introduced the system. In 2023, the Online Safety Act both repealed the Digital Economy Act duties, and reintroduced a new duty for adult content to be subject to age checks under a different regulator. Additionally, at the time of its introduction, platforms began to require age verification to distinguish children from adults, in order to remove access to content deemed to be risky. As the privacy standards of the different age check tools are regulated only under data protection law, such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation, campaigners have raised concerns about the trustworthiness and safety of using these tools.
Background
[edit]With the passing of the Digital Economy Act 2017, the United Kingdom became the first country to pass a law containing a legal mandate on the provision of an Internet age verification system. Under the act, websites that published pornography on a commercial basis would have been required to implement a "robust" age verification system to prevent minors from accessing their sites.[1][2] The regulator would have been empowered to fine those who fail to comply up to £250,000 (or up to 5% of their turnover), to order the blocking of non-compliant websites, and to require those providing financial or advertising services to non-compliant websites to cease doing so.[3]
After a series of setbacks, the planned scheme was eventually abandoned in 2019,[4] and the legislative provisions creating it were repealed by the Online Safety Act 2023.[5] Their new bill will affect all websites and internet by 25 July 2025.[6]
2019 duties through to cancellation
[edit]The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) was planned to be charged with enforcing the scheme.[7][8][9] The implementation of the law was initially delayed multiple times to allow the BBFC to draft and receive approval for official guidelines regarding the age verification requirements.[10][11] Following the passage of the Online Pornography (Commercial Basis) Regulations 2019 (which established a legal definition for the types of websites that would be subject to the requirements), implementation was again rescheduled, this time for a planned start date of April 2019.[2] In March 2019, reports stated that there was still no firm date for the implementation of this policy, which had been beset by many technical problems.[12] A BBC report at the time described implementation of the scheme as being "in a holding pattern".[13]
Key issues with the implementation included what constituted an effective means of age verification, as well as concerns over the possibility that online age verification providers could collect excessive personally identifiable information and process it for other purposes—potentially in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).[14] "AgeID", a service proposed by internet pornography company MindGeek, was singled out by critics due to concerns that offering this service could unduly enhance its market position.[11][15] The BBFC suggested that a system of gift card-like vouchers, purchased in person with ages checked by the retailer (identically to other age-restricted purchases such as alcohol) could provide a more anonymous and secure solution to age verification.[16]
Technical concerns included the use of VPNs[17] and DNS over HTTPS,[18] both of which make it more difficult to perform man-in-the-middle attacks such as those required for effective Internet blocking.
On 17 April 2019, regulators stated that the law would officially be effective from 15 July 2019.[1] However, on 20 June, the government announced that it had decided to delay implementation yet again, this time for another six months, for reasons including the government's failure to notify the scheme to the European Commission, and further concerns with technical issues.[19][20]
On 16 October 2019, the Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan stated that the government had abandoned the mandate altogether, in favour of replacing it with a forthcoming wider scheme of Internet regulation based on the principles expressed in the Online Harms White Paper.[4][21][22]
The mandate was formally repealed by section 212 of the Online Safety Act 2023,[5] which came into force immediately upon that act receiving royal assent on 26 October 2023.[23]
In January 2020, a group of age verification companies started a legal action against the government, seeking a judicial review of its decision to suspend the age verification scheme. The companies included AgeChecked Ltd, AVSecure, AVYourself and VeriMe.[24] The plaintiffs contended that the Digital Economy Act 2017 gave the government the power to delay implementation but not to abandon it, and sought around £3 million in damages.[25] In July 2020, they won permission for a judicial review.[26]
Online Safety Act duties
[edit]Under the new act, platforms that provide pornographic material are obliged to verify the age of their users, to ensure that users are not under 18. The act specifies that age verification techniques must be robust, but does not require any further duties regarding privacy or security. Sites that do not comply may face fines, or be blocked in the UK by Internet Service Providers.[27]
The Act also requires that platforms ensure that children do not access material that may be harmful to them. Although the Act does not require children to be identified through age verification, some platforms including Reddit and BlueSky are opting to use age verification in order to distinguish adults from children.[28]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Hern, Alex (17 April 2019). "Online pornography age checks to be mandatory in UK from 15 July". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
- ^ a b Manthorpe, Rowland (6 March 2019). "Why the UK's porn block is one of the worst ideas ever". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
- ^ Jamie Rigg (3 May 2017). "How the Digital Economy Act will come between you and porn". engadget. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
- ^ a b Waterson, Jim (16 October 2019). "UK drops plans for online pornography age verification system". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ a b "Online Safety Act 2023: Section 212", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 26 October 2023, 2023 c. 50 (s. 212), retrieved 1 November 2023
- ^ "UK's major porn providers agree to age checks from next month". www.ofcom.org.uk. 26 June 2025. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ^ "Pornhub owner may become the UK's gatekeeper of online porn". Engadget. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ "Pornhub's owner reveals its age verification tool for the UK". Engadget. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ Kleinman, Zoe (6 March 2018). "Porn check critics fear data breach". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ "UK government delays rollout of controversial age-verification porn laws". The Verge. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ a b Gayle, Damien (27 March 2018). "UK website age checks could create Facebook of porn, critics warn". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ Waterson, Jim (16 March 2019). "UK online pornography age block triggers privacy fears". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^ "Delay to age checks for UK porn viewers?". BBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
- ^ Muffett, Alec (28 October 2016). "On the Digital Economy Bill". Medium. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ Spadafora, Anthony (6 May 2019). "How the UK Porn Block could give one company an unfair advantage". TechRadar. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
- ^ "UK newsstands will sell 'porn passes' to verify ages under new laws". The Verge. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
- ^ Kelion, Leo (17 April 2019). "UK to introduce porn age-checks in July". Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ Corfield, Gareth (24 September 2019). "DoH! Mozilla assures UK minister that DNS-over-HTTPS won't be default in Firefox for Britons". www.theregister.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ "Online Pornography: Age Verification - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ Waterson, Jim; Hern, Alex (20 June 2019). "UK age-verification system for porn delayed by six months". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
- ^ "UK's controversial 'porn blocker' plan dropped". BBC News. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ "Written statements". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ "Online Safety Act 2023: Section 240", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 26 October 2023, 2023 c. 50 (s. 240), retrieved 1 November 2023,
The following provisions come into force on the day on which this Act is passed... section 212
- ^ Wright, Mike (16 January 2020). "Tech companies launch legal action to force Government to bring in under 18s porn ban". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ Will Bedingfield (24 January 2020). "The UK's controversial porn block is making a comeback". Wired UK.
- ^ Wright, Mike (16 July 2020). "Tech companies win first round of legal battle to force internet porn ban for children". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
- ^ Online Safety Supervision Team (24 April 2025). "Letter from Ofcom regarding mandatory age assurance requirements for services that allow pornographic content". Ofcom. Ofcom. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
- ^ Zee (18 July 2025). "Experts Share: Is Reddit's Age Verification In The UK A Privacy Risk?". TechRound. Retrieved 22 July 2025., Roth, Emma (10 July 2025). "Bluesky is rolling out age verification in the UK". The Verge. Retrieved 22 July 2025.