Everything We Know About Plans to Add Age Verification to Online Porn in the UK (Gizmodo UK)

Read the full article by Tom Pritchard at Gizmodo.co.uk

At some point later this year, the government will finally make good on its promise to add robust age verification checks to online porn. The law had initially been scheduled to come into effect this month (April), but ended up being postponed because nobody had worked out all the details yet. But plans have been rolling on, with the appointed regulator BBFC having just finished off the consultation about certain areas of the initial draft regulations (available to download here).

The thing is, the government hasn't been all that forthcoming with the details of what will happen and when – mainly because it didn't seem to know. Fortunately I was able to attend a briefing a couple of months ago where the topic was actually explained by people who knew what they were talking about. It turned out to be incredibly useful, and refreshing, to hear a controversial topic being discussed by someone who isn't a complete moron *cough* Amber Rudd *cough*. Now I'm relaying that information back to you. Partly because it's my job, but also because it's important.

Where Did This Come From?
This has actually been in the making for quite a long time. Ever since the Conservative party (sort of) came to power in 2010, there have been murmurs of plans to do something about the easy access to porn online – with the goal publicly stated as protecting children from that content. That eventually accumulated in ISP filters that blocked a variety of content by default, including porn, gambling, social media, and other bad or naughty things. Those could be turned off, but it was decided that this wasn't enough and plans were set in motion to add robust age verification systems to porn websites.

It's Only for People Browsing Within the UK
Information that's obvious to anyone with a basic understanding of how the law works, the age verification system will only affect people who are trying to access online pornography from within the UK. So if you go to Ireland or France for the day, you'll be able to access all the porn you like, unimpeded. From the looks of the current draft regulations, there's no distinction between between people who live here and those who are visiting, so anyone planning a British holiday should bear it in mind.