UK passes new Online Safety Bill to restrict minors' access to pornography sites

The British government on February 7, Monday passed the Online Safety Bill which will prohibit pornography websites to allow underage access, and instead put in place the strict verification technologies that would deter the minors from accessing the graphic content. The law was passed by UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sports minister MP Chris Philip on the occasion of the Safer Internet Day in order to protect the British kids against online pornography sites.

Adults across the UK will only be able to access such sites using secure age verification technology that will verify whether they possess a credit card, and are well over 18. UK government will then have a third-party service confirm their age against government data.

MP Chris Philp announced on Monday, February 7 that the new Online Safety Bill “will be significantly strengthened with a new legal duty requiring all sites that publish pornography to put robust checks in place to ensure their users are 18 years old or over.” Furthermore, he said, if the pornographic sites fail to act, the British government will deploy an independent regulator, Ofcom, which will impose a hefty fine, an estimated 10 per cent of their annual worldwide turnover, in case of breach of the law. The UK government will also hold the authority to block them from being accessible across the country. 

“Bosses of these websites could also be held criminally liable if they fail to cooperate with Ofcom,” UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport minister MP Chris Philip said, according to Downing Street press release. 

Pornography on UK's public databases online 'with little or no protection'

According to the UK government, a large amount of pornography is available on public databases online “with little or no protection.” The Boris Johnson administration is now aiming to ensure that these sites are accessed by the Britons that are old enough and not the minors. “There are widespread concerns this is impacting the way young people understand healthy relationships, sex, and consent,” MP Philp stated. He furthermore stressed, “Half of the parents worry that online pornography is giving their kids an unrealistic view of sex, and more than half of mothers fear it gives their kids a poor portrayal of women.” 

“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,” said UK’s Digital Minister Chris Philp. 

“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,” he added. 

UK’s new draft Online Safety Bill will regulate most popular pornography sites, including social media, video-sharing platforms and search engines for compliance. Commercial porn sites in the UK that allow user-generated content - such as videos uploaded by users - will be expected to adhere to the law or face criminal consequences. As per the government, any company linked with the porn websites which run pornographic content sites accessible freely to the people will be subject to “strict enforcement measures”.

The new Online Safety Bill will deliver more comprehensive protections for children across the UK than the Digital Economy Act passed by the British government earlier. Age verification technologies to be deployed by the porn sites “do not require a full identity check,” said the UK government. Brits can verify their age using identity documents, or via a credit card check.