Age verification of performers, device-level controls could improve UK porn controls

The UK needs to be ready to police content creation more stringently and alter the way age assurance is applied if it is to realize the intended goals of the Online Safety Act and related regulation of pornography, according to an independent report published by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

The 172-page “Creating a Safer World – the Challenge of Regulating Online Pornography” report, published Thursday, identifies several gaps in the existing regulation, and anticipates potential enforcement issues.

Baroness Bertin uses the forward to highlight the accessibility and volume of pornography available and make a connection between the more extreme forms it takes, including sexual violence like choking and adults role-playing as children, and real-world crimes committed by people who consume it.

Many of the 32 recommendations the report contains relate to making the regulation of online pornography consistent with that of offline pornography. Bertin suggests that porn involving choking and depictions of incest should be banned, along with software that generates fake nude images of people from clothed photographs. Audits could be performed by a body like the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

Age assurance has a place in the recommendations as well.

Bertin suggests that robust age verification requiring multiple pieces of identification” should be part of a regulatory regime to ensure performers in pornographic material are consenting, non-coerced adults.

Bertin also recommends changing where age assurance for consumers is deployed, if the harms described cannot be mitigated effectively by the measures Ofcom already has in place, meaning age checks at the level of the website or platform.

“If systems and processes are not deemed effective enough, I urge Ofcom and the government to look at additional measures to prevent children from accessing pornography, such as device-level age verification,” Bertin writes.

Verifymy supports recommendations

“For too long harmful pornography has been allowed to proliferate online, skewing perceptions of what is considered ‘normal’ sexual activity, so the proposed ban is welcome,” says Verifymy Head of Regulatory and Public Affairs Lina Ghazal.

“It’s a powder-keg issue, especially given the number of children managing to access adult material.”

Ghazal notes the “warped and often violent views of sex” that can come from exposure to online porn at a young age, and the risk of encouraging dangerous practices like choking.

“Stronger checks on both adult websites and social media platforms can identify and remove illegal and extreme videos where they exist, and the increased powers outlined for the BBFC will help bridge the regulatory gap between online and offline porn,” she continues.

“Age assurance technology also has a key role to play. Following Ofcom’s new guidelines, adult sites have until July to impose effective age verification methods like email-based age estimation or ID checks to keep underage users away from inappropriate material. It is a sea change for an industry where many popular sites still use a self-report system.

“Only a comprehensive approach that both tackles content and regulates access online will be effective in cracking down on the corrosive impact of extreme porn.”

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Article Topics

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