Britain to conduct age checks for online porn from July 15
LONDON: Britain said yesterday it will become the first country in the world to introduce age-verification to access online pornography.
The new law, which comes into force on July 15, will require commercial providers of Internet pornography to check on users' ages to ensure that they are 18 or over.
"Adult content is currently far too easy for children to access online," Minister for Digital and the Creative Industries Margot James said in a statement, hailing the mandatory scheme "a world first".
Websites that fail to implement the verification technology could have payment services withdrawn or be blocked for British users, according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
It is the latest move by British authorities to crack down on the spread of online abuses and crimes. The government announced earlier this month proposals to make social media bosses personally liable for harmful content and shut down offending platforms.
The latest step to bring in age-verification for pornography follows public consultation and parliamentary debate on the issue last year.
Research conducted as part of that outreach found that 88 per cent of parents with children aged 7 to 17 supported new controls, DCMS said.
It insisted the range of checks to be carried out by providers would be "rigorous" and go beyond users entering their date of birth or ticking a box.
They could include using traditional identity documents online, such as credit cards and passports, as well as digital IDs or cards bought in stores "where the verification is face-to-face". - AFP
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