Olivia Burke
There's about to be a huge paradigm shift in the porn sector for people in the UK.
From next month, all major adult websites - including industry titians such as Pornhub, Stripchat and Jerkmate - will be bringing in 'highly effective' age checks to verify the maturity of users.
So say goodbye to the days where you simply click a button to confirm that you are over 18 before getting down to business, as restrictions are about to get a whole lot tighter.
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A number of major platforms have agreed to comply with the stronger measures, which will apply to dedicated adult sites, as well as social media, search or gaming services.
Canadian porn conglomerate Alo, which is the parent company of popular sites such as Pornhub, have agreed to bring in 'government approved age assurance methods'.
However, it currently remains unclear what this age verification process will actually look like.
Announcing the news, Ofcom said that these changes will bring 'pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world'.
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The new rules are an offshoot of 2023's Online Safety Act (OSA), which saw a host of new laws being brought in to protect 'children and adults online' while making websites 'more responsible for users safety'.
Porn sites must introduce 'robust' age checking mechanisms before next month - and those who don't do so by 25 July could be hit with fines, or their website could even become unavailable in the UK through a court order.
Producing a photo ID, running credit card checks, or facial age estimation are all methods which can be used to confirm the age of a person trying to access explicit materials online.
Adult content providers have to juggle this while also ensuring that the measures don't compromise the privacy of adults or prevent them from accessing legal content.
Under the Online Safety Act, online porn services must keep written records explaining how they protect users from a breach of these laws.
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Ofcom have welcomed the news, while saying that the 'way in which these solutions are implemented in practice' will decide whether it is compliant with the OSA.
The regulator's group director of online safety, Oliver Griffiths, said of the upcoming age verification: "Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren’t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling.
"But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online. Now, change is happening.
"These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s."
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A report looking into the use and effectiveness of age assurance methods will be published by Ofcom next year.
Tim Cairns, online safety policy lead at Care - which has been campaigning for age checks to be brought in for nearly a decade - said the measures were 'long overdue'.
"Porn use is linked to sexual harassment in schools and violent sexual crime," Cairns said. Studies also demonstrate its harmful impact on relationships and mental health. It is vital that Ofcom gets this right."
The NSPCC's policy manager for child safety online, Rani Govender, added that the porn sites also need to shoulder some responsibility.
She said: "It is time tech companies take responsibility for ensuring children have safe, age-appropriate experiences online and we welcome the progress that Ofcom are making in this space.
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"To make this a reality, platforms must also effectively enforce their minimum age limits. There is currently a gap in legislation which the Government must address to ensure Ofcom can hold companies accountable for protecting young children online."
Ofcom said monitoring the compliance of companies is 'a priority', adding: "As part of our work enforcing the Online Safety Act, we have already launched investigations into four porn providers and won’t hesitate to take further action from July."
It comes as the government announced plans to criminalise a common act depicted in pornography amid the growing epidemic of violence against women and girls.
An Independent Porn Review by Baroness Gabby Bertin found that media sources including adult content, have been depicting strangulation, or choking, promoting it as a ‘norm’ during sex.
The amendment will be made to the Crime and Policing Bill, which is central to the government’s Plan for Change and making the justice system stronger for victims.