A number of popular websites will soon require age verification in order for their users to access, and it could change the way we surf the web.
The changes are set to come into effect tomorrow (25 July), in which new regulations will be put in place for British internet users.
While this is mostly geared towards cracking down on underage users on pornographic websites, a number of social media sites are also set to be hit.
The changes go far beyond age verification though, with a lot of things set to change online as of tomorrow, but how will the wider population be affected?
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While some people watch porn in their spare time (we don't judge), it's fair to say that a whole lot more online users are active on social media.
It's about to become a lot harder to explore the web, as the Online Safety Act, which was first passed in 2023, is finally coming into practice.
It is said that owners of websites which fail to adhere to the new rules could risk being either £18 million or 10 percent of their revenue.
In serious situations, executives could even face jail time, while the website could be banned from the UK altogether.
Certain websites have already started phasing in these changes ahead of the Act's introduction.
The main aim of the act is to stop children from viewing harmful or inappropriate content online, meaning that the fairly useless 'Confirm you're over 18' box will no longer be the only barrier in the way of entering these sites.
Ofcom has stated that the average age someone in Britain sees explicit material online is 13, which could be on a regular social media site.
While some sites like Wikipedia have claimed they would become 'unworkable' if they needed to 'impose verification', a number of methods are set to be utilised to confirm age.
These include photo ID matching, open banking, facial age estimation, email age estimation, credit card checks, mobile network operator checks and digital identity services.
But which websites are set to be affected?
Pornhub
A number of adult websites confirmed earlier this year, such as Pornhub, Stripchat and Jerkmate, will be introducing 'highly effective' age checks to check the age of users.
It all but marks the end of the weak 'over 18' button, with many people's private time routines set to be disrupted with a check of some sort.
Canadian porn conglomerate Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, stated that they would introduce 'government approved age assurance methods'.
The popular forum social media site has employed outside firm Persona to check the age of users either through an uploaded selfie or a photo of their government ID, such as a driver's license or passport.
Reddit will not have access to the photo, only keeping record of the user's verification status and date of birth so you don't have to verify your identity every time you use their platform, say the BBC.
X
X has already outlined the methods which it intends to use to verify users' identities, such as facial age estimation, ID verification, email address-based estimation, and reverse address book median age estimation.
The later is the most unorthodox, using social connections to estimate age.
Grindr
Grindr and other dating apps have agreed to introduce their own verification steps, though this is yet to be officially confirmed.
Discord
The communication platform has given users a choice between face or ID scanning as a way to check their age.
With over 200 million users worldwide, it was primarily used for gamers, though there are now pornographic communities on the site.
Bluesky
One of the most popular alternatives to X, Bluesky has revealed that users can choose between credit card verification and face scans to confirm their identity.
Topics: Social Media, PornHub, Reddit, UK News
Joshua Nair