U.K. Pornography Age Verification Law Now in Effect
The Online Safety Act, a U.K. law mandating age verification for users of pornography websites, has officially come into force as of Friday.
According to the BBC, approximately 6,000 pornographic websites have committed to implementing age verification procedures to comply with the new legislation. However, as of Friday morning, at least one major site was not yet enforcing age checks.
In addition to age verification, the law also stipulates that online platforms must take measures to shield children from exposure to harmful content. As a result, platforms like Reddit, Bluesky, X, and Grindr are now prompting users in the U.K. to verify their age using methods such as submitting selfies or government-issued identification.
This initiative is part of a broader push for enhanced child protection measures, which could potentially establish a precedent for global adoption of online age verification protocols, as per Wired. However, the approach has faced criticism from entities like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who view it as a threat to online privacy and anonymity. Notably, a recent security breach involving the dating safety app Tea revealed that many compromised images were originally submitted for account verification purposes, including selfies and digital IDs.
Despite these measures, some individuals may attempt to circumvent age verification requirements by employing tactics such as fake IDs, images of video game characters, or virtual private networks (VPNs).
