All changes to be made as part of UK’s porn crackdown as new regulations start tomorrow
From tomorrow (25 July) a series of new regulations are going to kick in which will change the way Brits use the internet, particularly if they're wanting to watch pornography.
It's one of the most popular activities people get up to on the internet, to the point that those who've spent plenty of time online may be familiar with the phrase 'Rule 34'.
In essence, the rule is that if something exists, then somewhere on the internet there will be porn of it, all you have to do is think of something and then go looking.
Then again, there's something to be said for the merits of not knowing, particularly when it comes to just how much content and how many sites there are on the internet to find racy content on.
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Anyhow, for people living in the UK, it's imminently about to become more difficult to access pornographic content online as the government is bringing in a porn crackdown that'll result in some major changes.
What is this 'porn crackdown'?
Technically, it's called the 'Online Safety Act', because governments don't go around calling their legislation a porn crackdown.
The Online Safety Act became law back in 2023, but it's taken quite a while to implement the new rules and make sure that the various websites that would be most affected are sure they know what's expected of them.
Failure to comply with the new rules means that sites and their owners run the risk of being fined £18 million or 10 percent of their revenue.
In more serious cases, executives could be jailed and the site could even be banned from being available in the UK.
New Scientist reported last year that hundreds of small websites were already planning to shut down ahead of the act because they just couldn't run the risk of falling foul of the fines if content posted on their forums resulted in them breaching the rules.
Many websites have already started introducing the changes.
So, what are these new rules which websites will have to follow from tomorrow?
Age verification
One of the main motivations behind the act is to prevent children from viewing potentially harmful content online, meaning internet users in the UK will have to start proving how old they are in order to access content.
Gone will be the days of ticking a box confirming you're over 18 when you actually aren't.
According to Ofcom, the average age someone in the UK first sees explicit material online is 13, while the Children's Commissioner warns that one in 10 children first see pornography online at the age of nine.
Any website on which porn could be found, which includes dating apps and social media sites, will have to demand something that proves an internet users age before they can go around browsing content.
However, some sites have complained that it could result in them becoming unworkable as Wikipedia has said it'll have to 'impose verification' to keep functioning in the UK, as many people who edit the site prefer to remain anonymous to protect themselves.
Meanwhile, PornHub parent company Aylo told the BBC a crackdown was dangerous, explaining that traffic to their site from the US state of Louisiana dropped by 80 percent after age verification was enforced there.
They warned that 'these people did not stop looking for porn' and instead just 'migrated to darker corners of the internet that don't ask users to verify age'.
How will it work?
Ofcom have said that people declaring their own age is no longer a trusted method and suggested a number of methods websites could use.
Photo ID matching, open banking, facial age estimation, email age estimation, credit card checks, mobile network operator checks and digital identity services have all been suggested by the regulator as ways websites could make sure someone was old enough to view risky content.
This means from tomorrow, you'll need to be prepared to hand over some verifiable personal information if you want to look at these sites.
In some cases, this will be an ID, otherwise you might need to show a picture and have it scanned by AI so it can guess how old you are.
Ultimately, it will be up to the various sites to provide a system of age verification as long as they are 'highly effective', and it will be up to Brits to provide the proof.
While porn sites will be expected to do this, a variety of social media sites such as Reddit, Bluesky and X have also agreed to introduce verification.
'Algorithms configured'
Websites with algorithms will also be required to adjust them so children on the site do not see harmful content in their feeds.
The Online Safety Act adds that harm to children will include an algorithm repeatedly pushing lots of content into a child's feed over a short space of time.
If companies want to keep operating in the UK and have Brits visit their websites, then they'll need to change their algorithm.
Stamping down on harmful content
Also under the view of the act is getting rid of harmful content when it has been flagged up.
Porn is top of the list for harmful content children won't be allowed to see, but also a priority is content that promotes or shows a viewer how to self-harm, commit suicide or develop an eating disorder.
Other forms of content which children will have 'age appropriate access' to include bullying, abusive content, and content which either depicts or endorses serious violence, dangerous stunts and exposure to harmful substances.
If this content appears on sites children have access to, then companies are expected to get rid of it quickly, and going hand in hand with this are clearer terms of service and an easier way to report problems.
Holding someone accountable
These platforms which must operate under new rules will need to have someone who carries the weighty can of responsibility.
Ofcom says they'll need to have 'a named person accountable for children’s safety' so if and when problems with the new restrictions arise there is someone who will have the specific task of sorting things out.
There will also be an expectation that a senior body will be established to review the risk to children on an annual basis.
New offences
Certain types of content are now considered to be committing an offence under the the Online Safety Act.
These include assisting or encouraging a person to commit self-harm, cyberflashing (sending someone unsolicited sexual images online), sending false information to cause someone harm, threatening communications, epilepsy trolling (sending someone flashing images designed to give them a seizure) and intimate image abuse which is more commonly known as 'revenge porn'.
Sharing 'deepfake' porn of a person is also an offence.
Topics: UK News, Social Media, Technology, Crime, Reddit, Twitter, PornHub
Joe Harker