The UK Govt has said it will force porn sites to adopt age verification, following years of lobbying by CARE.

Press Release: Tuesday 8 February 2022

ONLINE safety campaigners have welcomed a UK Govt commitment to usher in age checks on porn websites through its forthcoming online safety regime.

Digital Minister Chris Philp today announced new measures that would force all sites that publish pornography to prevent underage access through age verification technologies.

The plans would see adults using secure technology to verify that they possess a credit card and are over 18 or have a third-party service confirm their age. Sites that fail to block access by under-18s would be liable to a huge fine – up to 10% of their annual worldwide turnover.

Mr Philp said:

“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. 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.”

‘Hugely encouraging'

Ross Hendry, of the charity CARE, which has campaigned has for age verification on all commercial porn sites since 2015, welcomed the news:

“Today’s announcement is hugely encouraging for all of us at CARE who have spent years calling for this safeguard. Tens-of-thousands of children have stumbled across and continue to stumble across porn. They are disturbed, upset, and damaged by it. A just society does not allow this to happen, and it is good that the government has finally recognised our campaign.

“Some groups oppose this technology on the grounds that adults should not face any barrier to porn. They argue that barriers to access violate privacy or ‘interfere with sexual freedom’. In a society that requires people to present proof of age to purchase alcohol, tobacco, or other adult products online, this is absurd. Adult convenience should never trump child safety.

“We await more detail from the government and will engage with Ministers and the parliamentary process in the months ahead. Regardless of party-political affiliation, parliamentarians should row in behind age checks as a welcome and long overdue safeguard. Several European countries have implemented it in the last few months – it’s time the UK followed suit.”

Change ‘long overdue’

Age verification measures were backed by Parliament in 2017. However, the legislation designed to usher them into law – Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act – was not enacted by the government and ditched altogether in 2019. Mr Hendry continued:

“Age checks on porn sites should have been in place years ago. Questions have been asked about why this didn’t happen. There are also concerns that it may be some time – perhaps years – before the online safety regime is ready. Children will remain unprotected until it is. We would ask UK Ministers to implement measures to protect kids from pornography in the interim.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Public backs age checks on porn sites

A poll of UK adults by CARE last year found 8 in 10 people support mandatory age checks on porn sites. The same proportion stated that the age limit should be 18 years.

The Savanta poll of more than 2,100 UK adults, found:

• 81% of UK adults agree with the statement: ‘The government should implement age verification to protect children from all online pornography’. 13% disagree. 6% don’t know;
• 79.5% of UK adults agree with the statement: ‘There should be an age limit of 18 years for access to online pornography’. 14% disagree. 7% don’t know.

Public fears porn fuelling sexual violence

Separate polling commissioned by CARE last year found broad public concern about the link between pornography consumption and sexual violence against women and girls.

The poll of 2,000 people found 6 in 10 UK adults agree with the statement: “I am concerned that pornography is inspiring sexual violence against women and girls.” Only 1 in 10 disagreed.

7 in 10 adults also agreed that: “The government should stop websites publishing extreme pornography that portrays violence or non-consensual sex”, with less than 1 in 10 respondents disagreeing.

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).

Evidence of porn’s harms

CARE points to evidence that porn consumption fuels harmful sexual behaviours:

[Read a summary of evidence]

Legal challenge on failure to implement porn safeguards

Campaigners welcome 'seminal' court proceedings on internet pornography safeguards | CARE

About CARE

CARE is a well-established mainstream Christian charity providing resources and helping to bring Christian insight and experience to matters of public policy and practical caring initiatives.

CARE’s work on online safety

CARE has campaigned for age checks on pornographic sites and tougher regulation of ‘extreme’ porn since 2014. A timeline of events, marking CARE’s work, is viewable here:

[Timeline of events]