Why age verification is another flawed attempt to regulate online pornography in the UK
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Why age verification is another flawed attempt to regulate online pornography in the UK
Oliver Carter, Birmingham City University
The UK government has announced that its forthcoming online safety bill will require websites that publish pornography to verify users are over 18.
Sites will need to adopt a method of age verification, such as having users provide their passport information. They will likely need to employ a third-party provider to set up and maintain these systems.
This isn’t the first attempt to restrict access to online pornography in this way in Britain. The government shelved plans for a similar age verification scheme in 2019.
There’s no question child safety online is critically important. But if adopted, this move will be yet another piece of legislation to add to a messy patchwork of often flawed UK laws seeking to police pornography.
I’ve done research on the history of pornography in Britain, and particularly its regulation. In short, this has always been a...
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