Featured Image Credit: Leon Neal/Getty
Topics: Politics, UK News, Adult Industry
James Moorhouse
The UK government has set a date for introducing new rules which it hopes will bring an end to underage children accessing pornographic content.
If you haven't heard, you'll soon need to complete an online ID check if you want to watch any adult videos, whether that be on your phone, computer, iPad or smart fridge.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently spoke to LADbible about the threats of the online world on young children, in the wake of the groundbreaking Netflix series Adolescence which highlighted the dangers and the potentially horrifying consequences of digesting adult content from an early age.
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There are millions of videos out there that simply should not be seen be those under the age of 18, as the last thing the kids of today need to be exposed to is weird sex fetishes or the bizarre idea that women simply exist to please men.
Although the Online Safety Act, which was implemented in the UK in 2023 as a way of protecting both children and adults online, sadly won't be able to shut up misogynistic mouth-breathers, it will hopefully ensure that anyone whose voice hasn't broken yet isn't viewing any of the wild and wacky adult content out there.
Ofcom has now sent out a letter to 'hundreds' of services, you know the ones, to make it clear that 'mandatory age-checks' need to be implemented this year.
The letter states: "Services in scope of the Online Safety Act and which allow pornography, must implement highly effective age assurance to stop under-18s encountering that content.
"This letter sets out what services need to do in more detail and explains the consequences of non-compliance.
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"You will need to introduce highly effective age assurance for users by 25 July 2025."
If you're not aware, a lot of these sites currently ask users if they are over the age of 18 but they require no proof of age whatsoever, which has allowed young children to access their content.
From late July, it is expected that these sites could use the likes of open banking, Photo-ID matching, facial age estimation, mobile-network operator age checks, email-based age estimation and digital ID services to ensure that you're old enough to access the site.
Failure to do so could result in seriously hefty fines, reaching as much as £18 million or 10 percent of their qualifying global revenue.
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While undoubtedly a blow for all those 'content creators' out there, this can only be a positive thing for our hopes of bringing up a better generation of kids, and is hopefully just the first of many steps when it comes to banning faceless social media accounts who currently have the freedom to comment whatever they please without consequence.