Age verification for porn access supported across UK electorate, finds poll

A survey for right-leaning TV news channel GB News finds that 78 percent of the British public support age verification systems to prevent children under 18 accessing online pornography.

The breakdown of respondents’ political orientation suggests broad support across the UK’s political divide, and also mounting political pressure around age verification.

Only 5 percent of respondents disagreed with introducing age verification and 17 percent said they did not know or preferred not say, according to the survey carried out by People Polling. Of those who vote for the Conservative (Tory) party, currently in power, 84 percent are in favor of age checks, slightly ahead of 80 percent of those who vote for Labour, the main opposition party.

Age checks for porn access are becoming more politically prominent as part of the ongoing process to pass the oft-amended Online Safety Bill. After a Tory rebellion pressuring UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to add the threat of jail time for named tech bosses if their firms are considered to be failing to protect children online, the attention shifted to strong-arming the party leader into toughening age checks for porn.

Politics expert Professor Matt Goodwin told the Huffington Post that the poll shows widespread public support for age checks and that “If I were advising Rishi Sunak, I would be telling him that introducing these age verification checks is a no-brainer.”

Speaking on GB News about the poll, Iain Corby, executive director of the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), explained how the Online Safety Bill may be amended further as it passes through the House of Lords: “the way it’s been structured [means] parents won’t see any change before 2026.

“So, luckily, Lord Bethell, Baroness Benjamin … and others are pushing forward amendments to ensure that all pornography is captured by that bill within six months of that bill becoming law – so hopefully by the end of this year.”

The AVPA presents a range of companies offering tech solutions for accessing porn such as Yoti’s face age estimation to anonymously assess age.

Article Topics

age verification  |  AVPA  |  children  |  digital ID  |  legislation  |  Online Safety Bill  |  UK