Seven ways Pornhub and OnlyFans could make you verify your age as UK crackdown looms
Brits will soon have to prove their age if they want to head on over to the likes of Pornhub or OnlyFans, according to new restrictions coming in across the UK in 2025.
Years in the making, strict regulations are set to finally be brought in throughout the UK when it comes to getting access to websites that host adult content or pornography.
The whole purpose is to stop those who are not of age from going on their phones and potentially coming across content that is made for people aged 18 or older. A move which I think we can all agree makes sense, given kids shouldn't be accessing that kind of thing.
In bringing in the new rules, adults wanting to access spicy content will have to verify their age. And there are many ways you might be asked to do this.
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When are the new restrictions coming in?
It's not an immediate thing but it is pretty soon due to the Online Safety Bill 2023.
Regulator Ofcom has said a deadline of July 2025 is on the cards for all of these adult sites to establish their own age checks.
Pornhub and OnlyFans are just two of the big players who will have to play ball. So if you get your downtime on another service, the same rules will apply.
Ofcom's chief executive, Dame Melanie Dawes, said: "For too long, many online services which allow porn and other harmful material have ignored the fact that children are accessing their services,
"Either they don't ask or, when they do, the checks are minimal and easy to avoid. That means companies have effectively been treating all users as if they're adults, leaving children potentially exposed to porn and other types of harmful content."
How can you prove your age to adult websites?
"As age checks start to roll out in the coming months, adults will start to notice a difference in how they access certain online services," Dame Melanie explained.
"Services which host their own pornography must start to introduce age checks immediately, while other user-to-user services – including social media – which allow pornography and certain other types of content harmful to children will have to follow suit by July at the latest."
Ahead of the deadline, Ofcom listed seven ways in which you could be asked to verify you're an adult. And it includes having your credit card checked by the pornographic website.
The 'non-exhaustive' list also including open banking; photo ID matching; mobile network operator age check; and facial age estimations.
On top of that there is email-based age estimation and digital identity services.
So if you want to have some alone time, there will now be a loophole to jump through. What choice each service opts for remains to be seen, but you'll have to give something in return for access.
Topics: PornHub, OnlyFans, Adult Industry, UK News, Sex and Relationships, Education
Tom Earnshaw