RANDY Brits will be faced with new checks to verify their age when trying to access popular porn sites including PornHub starting next month.
More than a dozen top XXX user-generated platforms have said they will add “highly effective” age checks in a bid to protect children.
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Age assurance methods can include credit card checks, open banking or facial age estimation to verify or guess how old someone is.
It comes as strict new rules kick start on July 25, which apply to both dedicated adult sites and social media, search or gaming services, as part of the Online Safety Act which is monitored by regulator Ofcom.
Firms that fail to comply could be slapped with a fine or even blocked from the UK.
PornHub – the most visited XXX site in the UK – as well as YouPorn and RedTube are among the big names that have said they will implement changes.
The full list that have agreed to be named are:
- PornHub
- BoyfriendTV
- Cam4
- FrolicMe
- inxxx
- Jerkmate
- LiveHDCams
- MyDirtyHobby
- RedTube
- Streamate
- Stripchat
- Tube8
- YouPorn
“Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren’t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling,” said Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom Group Director of Online Safety.
“But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online.
“Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s.”
Online firms who publish their own pro porn movies are already required to protect children, and thousands of sites have already introduced tougher age checks.
Platforms must also make sure the measures do not compromise the privacy of adults or prevent them from accessing legal content.
Shockingly, eight per cent of children aged between eight and 14 in the UK visited an online porn site or app in a month, according to Ofcom research.
Around 3 per cent of those are aged just eight or nine years-old.
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