No pints with digital ID or porn from Belize for UK revelers this Christmas

UK drinkers raising a glass to former Technology Secretary Peter Kyle this Christmas would best honour him with a glass of milk. The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology has reportedly confirmed to licensees that the changes to the Mandatory Licensing Conditions won’t be ready in time to make good on Kyle’s promise, made in December 2024, that digital ID would be an option for age verification in UK pubs by the yuletide. 

A post on LinkedIn from the Age Verification Provider’s Association (AVPA) says the change has been delayed to 2026, “subject to Parliamentary timeline.” 

“When we joked that Peter Kyle didn’t say which Christmas,” says AVPA, “we should have penciled in 2027.” 

Ofcom hammers away at noncompliant porn sites

More adept at keeping promises is UK regulator Ofcom, which enforces the Online Safety Act. An announcement from Ofcom says it has fined AVS Group Ltd, a Belize-based operator of 18 adult content websites, for violating the OSA’s age verification requirement. The company now faces a fine of 1 million pounds, plus an extra 50,000 for failing to respond to requests for information. 

“While AVS has implemented what it refers to as age verification, we do not consider it to be highly effective,” Ofcom says. “AVS must now implement highly effective age assurance within 72 hours of today’s decision, or face a daily penalty of £1,000 per day.” 

The regulator has faced outcry from major porn providers that have complied with the law, only to see their traffic nosedive as users seek alternatives. Aylo, which owns Pornhub, has called for a level playing field – in effect, a push to crack down on noncompliant sites that may be sucking its traffic. 

AVPA also supports a fair application of the laws. On LinkedIn, it says “the success of this new regulatory regime rests on Ofcom ensuring there is a level playing field, so high-profile sites do not face an existential loss of custom to smaller sites not yet brought into line by the regulator.”  

Geography can’t be a factor, either: “it must also apply to sites regardless of their geographical location, which is why the court-ordered ISP blocks, payment disruptions, or search result removals need to be deployed swiftly, in the absence of compliance.”

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AVPA speculates that, since AVS has been unresponsive and is based in Belize, it may be “the first opportunity to apply real teeth of the Online Safety Act where Ofcom has the power to require the withdrawal of critical business services from non-compliant sites.” But, it adds, “HM King Charles III is the Head of State of Belize which is a member of the Commonwealth, so some investigatory cooperation may be achievable.” 

Article Topics

AVPA  |  digital ID  |  GOV.UK Wallet  |  Ofcom  |  Online Safety Act  |  UK age verification  |  UK digital ID