UK public mostly happy with ‘age verification’ laws, campaigners less so

Age assurance may not stop that many children from accessing online pornography, but it’s a good idea anyway, according to most people in the UK.

A YouGov poll shows that eight months after the Online Safety Act took effect, 75 percent of Britons support age verification, estimation or inference for websites with adult or potentially harmful content. Surveys last year showed support between 69 percent and 80 percent.

Only 31 percent think age checks will be effective at stopping children from accessing pornography, and only 38 percent of those who support the requirement.

The demographic that uses pornography the most – young men – is also the least supportive of age assurance.

The polling company acknowledges criticism of the design of the from surveys last year, so used alternative versions of the same questions to avoid potential noise. Wording the question differently yielded only slight variations in the results.

Notably, YouGov uses the most common consumer label, “age verification,” to represent a set of technologies like facial age estimation that do not involve verification.

Too far

Big Brother Watch has called on Apple to remove mandatory identity and age checks that arrived in the UK with the release of iOS 26.4.

A letter to Apple says the move treats adults like children, follows no legal mandate, won’t protect children, risks locking out millions and giving the government another reason to launch a digital ID. It is founded on a slippery slope, damages trust and security and comes with no warning to Apple users, according to Big Brother Watch.

The group characterizes Singapore and South Korea, the other two countries where Apple has already implemented the age verification checks, as “countries without a fully free internet.”

While the two organizations may approach the issue from different angles,  they have similar brand equity to protect.

Not far enough

UK Legislator Beeban Kidron tells MLex in an interview that regulators have failed to use the enforcement tools they already have at their disposal adequately to protect children online. She singles out the Information Commissioner’s Office’s job enforcing the Age-Appropriate Design Code (aka the Children’s Code) for particular criticism.

The ICO recently wrote to major platforms asking them to show their compliance work.

It is in this environment that a version of social media has flourished that has inspired public backlash, including support for legal age minimums, Kidron says.

The criticism continues from there, and comes as the government is under scrutiny for a proposal to allow ministers to use secondary legislation to amend primary legislation, in a shortcut past full parliamentary consideration, MLex reports.

Gov’t picks next Ofcom Chair

The regulator responsible will have a new chair for the remaining headaches in Online Safety Act enforcement. Secretary of State for Science and Technology Liz Kendall has announced that Sir Ian Cheshire is the government’s pick for chair of Ofcom.

Cheshire was the chair of public broadcaster Channel 4 for a period of several years that concluded last April.

Kendall also thanked Lord Michael Grade for chairing the regulator through the beginning of age assurance enforcement under the OSA.

Cheshire must be approved in a parliamentary hearing for his appointment to be confirmed.

Article Topics

age verification  |  Big Brother Watch  |  biometric age estimation  |  digital ID  |  Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)  |  Ofcom  |  Online Safety Act  |  UK