Press release: For immediate release, 26/10/21 CARE

NEWS that porn sites are ready to implement vital age verification measures must inspire immediate action by the UK Government, CARE has said.

This morning, The Times reports that Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza has met with representatives of major porn sites and heard that they are open to regulation to prevent children stumbling on content.

Dame Rachel told The Times:

“I’ve brought in the major adult companies about keeping children off their sites. They don’t want children on their sites but for some of them you don’t even need an email to register. We know how things go across onto social media from there.

“They responded to me positively. If the government imposed mandatory age verification on them, they would support that. Their business model is such that if it was only one of them, they feel the clients might go elsewhere.”

'Ministers must act now'

Responding to the news James Mildred of the charity CARE, which has campaigned for age verification measures for the last five years, said:

"We welcome the news from children’s commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza that porn sites are willing to adopt age verification safeguards.

"In 2017, MPs and Peers passed the Digital Economy Act, Part 3 of which was supposed to put age checks in place on all commercial pornographic websites. But Part 3 was never enforced. The government has said its Online Safety Bill is an improvement on Part 3. However, the detail does not suggest this. There is no requirement to block sites that host extreme pornographic content. And it is not clear if porn sites will be subject to age verification safeguards under the plans. It will also be some time before the online safety regime is in place if it is agreed at all.

"We urge the government to implement Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act now, to provide vital protections whilst its online safety plans are being considered."

Polling reveals support for move

Polling by CARE in June this year found broad support for age checks among the UK public.

A Savanta poll commissioned by the charity found that 8 in 10 UK adults think age verification should be introduced to protect kids and 8 in 10 believe access to online porn should only be for over-18s.

More recent polling commissioned by CARE also points to acute concern that porn is leading to sexual violence against women and girls.

A Savanta poll of more than 2,000 UK adults last week found that 6 in 10 fear internet pornography is inspiring sexual violence against women and girls, and 7 in 10 want tougher curbs on vile content.

Female respondents were more concerned that porn is motivating sexual violence (7 in 10) than males (5 in 10). However, both sexes strongly agreed on the need for tougher curbs on porn sites (8 in 10 and 7 in 10 respectively).

Growing alarm about porn's harms

Fears about the links between violent pornography and sexual crime have spiked in recent weeks in the wake of tragic cases like that of Sarah Everard, whose killer was obsessed with 'rape pornography'.

A growing body of evidence from front line workers helping victims of sexual crime, educationalists and members of the judiciary also warns about the link between consumption of extreme pornography and sexual crime.

Speaking last week, CARE CEO Nola Leach said:

“The links between extreme pornography and sexual violence are becoming clearer and clearer. Pornography has been implicated in a host of tragic cases involving the rape and murder of women in recent years. It is described as a contributing factor by those working with victims of sexual violence across the UK. And it has been named as a motivator of sexual harassment in schools.

“On top of this evidence, our polling shows that the public at large is concerned about the impact extreme pornography is having and supports action to curb porn providers. The strength of public feeling on this, coupled with evidence of porn’s harms, must lead to concrete action by parliamentarians.”

Ms Leach added:

“The UK Government has brought forward online safety proposals. However, these plans are nowhere near as robust as the previous measures, in Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act. It is not at all clear which websites would be covered by the legislation. There is no requirement to block sites that host extreme pornographic content. And it is not clear if porn sites will be subject to age verification safeguards.

“Then there’s the fact that it will take years before the new Bill is passed, possibly not until 2024 which means women and children will continue to miss out on this protection for some time. To provide this protection as soon as possible, Minsters can implement Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act. We urge them to do this now while Parliament debates the new legislation.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

For interview requests or more information please contact Jamie Gillies: jamie.gillies@care.org.uk // 07384467819

Dame Rachel de Souza comments to The Times

[CLICK HERE]

Polling results breakdown

[CLICK HERE]

Evidence that porn is fuelling sexual crime

[CLICK HERE]

UK public supports age checks on all porn sites

[CLICK HERE]