Ofcom floats age verification crackdown for UK adult sites
Under new Ofcom rules, pornography websites, starting with pay sites, will have to show how they are protecting underage viewers from adult content.
Other platforms, including content aggregators such as PornHub and OnlyFans have until July to comply.
Platforms which publish their own adult content from now will have to take steps to introduce robust age checks to meet the communications regulator’s guidance.
“Highly effective” age assurance methods have been outlined, including open banking – accessing the information a bank has regarding a user’s age, photo identification and facial age estimation.
Other processes were suggested, from mobile-network operator age checks, to email-based estimation and credit card checks.
The long-awaited guidance is a landmark moment in movement towards greater age assurance and verification for people using the internet as part of the Online Safety Act.
Lina Ghazal, head of public affairs at Verifymy, commented: “The Online Safety Act is set to make 2025 the biggest year for age verification since the Intoxicating Liquor (Sales to Persons under Eighteen) Act 1923 passed over 100 years ago.”
Yet, the bill came under intense scrutiny from tech companies due to privacy and national security concerns.
“Ofcom’s announcement is a pivotal moment in the fight to make the internet a safer place, particularly for children”, added Ghazal.
This announcement comes as the US and Europe make similar drives toward greater age assurance online.
In the US, the vast majority of states have been enacting new age verification laws in recent months.
This has set a precedent on how other content providers, like social media apps, could check and reinforce age restrictions.