Many people in the UK have today been greeted by notifications from social networks asking them to prove they are over 18. This isn’t your normal check, where it asks for an easily faked date of birth. By law, you now need to provide ID or an alternative method of verification.
The UK’s Online Safety Act aims to protect children from harmful content online related to pornography as well as eating disorders, self-harm, suicide, and other types of adult topics.
UK regulator Ofcom says, “Until now, it’s been too easy for children to see harmful content, including pornography online. New research from Ofcom has found that 8% of children aged 8-14 in the UK visited an online porn site or app in a month, including around 3% of 8- to 9-year-olds, the youngest children in the study.”
How Does Age Verification Work?
The age restrictions are meant to make it harder for children to fake access to online services. Ofcom isn’t mandating a specific verification scheme; social networks and adult sites are using various methods, from Facebook, Discord, and Instagram to TikTok, YouTube, and more.
For example, Reddit notified me this morning that some content was restricted until I entered my age. This appeared in my normal feed, where there’s no 18+ content. After entering my real date of birth, a pop-up asked me to confirm my age by providing either a photo ID or an estimation using a selfie. Photo ID options included a passport or a UK driving license.
The age-verification options within Reddit. (Credit: Reddit)
If you take a selfie, it takes you through filming a short video to ensure you’re not just using a photograph of an older person. I tried to fake it with photos of actors and some family members, but it wasn’t fooled. You have to slowly look left and right in the video. The process took around 90 seconds in total.
Social media network Bluesky is doing similar. Its notification says, “The laws in your location require you to verify you’re an adult before accessing certain features on Bluesky, like adult content and direct messaging.” All direct messaging features are inaccessible until you confirm your age, severely limiting the service.
Bluesky is using a service called KWS that needs to be connected to your email account. From there, you can choose to do a facial scan or share a credit card from either Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. I tried the facial-recognition software, but after 30 attempts, which I felt all followed the on-screen rules, it continued to say it couldn’t confirm I had a real face. I eventually opted to use the credit card, which took less than 30 seconds.
How Does It Work for Pornography?
One of the world’s most popular pornography websites, Pornhub, requires an account to access its services. You can either sign in with your Google or X/Twitter account or sign up for a dedicated Pornhub account.
(Credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images)
This may come as a surprise to some, as Pornhub removed its services in France to protest the country’s age-verification laws. Pornhub parent company Aylo praised Ofcom’s approach to age verification this week, saying, “Ofcom’s model is the most robust in terms of actual and meaningful protection we’ve seen to date.”
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Aylo even pushed for other governments to follow suit with the UK’s rules. In a statement, Aylo’s VP of Brand and Community, Alex Kekesi, said, “Keeping minors off adult sites is a shared responsibility that requires a global solution. It requires cooperation between government, tech platforms, and adults. We want to be part of the solution and are hopeful that the UK model stands to set a strong precedent to that end.”
Elsewhere, adult site xHamster is also asking for users to sign up for accounts or to connect with either a Google login or an X account. Oddly, the brand is still calling it Twitter, with an image of the bird logo rather than its current X branding.
Meanwhile, XVideos is currently accessible without any rules in place. At the top of the site is a link to a lengthy blog post from owner WGCZ Holdings, outlining the company’s stance against the Online Safety Act. “We’ll be forced to verify your age, and we already know we’ll lose almost all our users in the process,” it says. It’s unclear if the company plans to include age verification.
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What Happens if Companies Ignore the Rules?
We don’t know when Ofcom will begin enforcement, but the punishments are severe. Services can expect either a fine of £18 million or 10% of their worldwide revenue, whichever is more. “In the most serious cases, we can ask a court to impose sanctions on third parties, such as internet providers, which could lead to the site being blocked or restricted in the UK,” Ofcom says.
Many US states and lawmakers will likely be watching the rollout. Currently, 17 US states require age verification for adult sites, and Aylo responded by blocking access to its sites in those states. After a Supreme Court loss, however, Pornhub said it is currently “reevaluating” whether it should comply with laws in each of these states.
In Europe, the European Commission is working on a single sign-in option that works across multiple providers. This scheme is also designed to fight privacy concerns many have from providing personal data to access websites.
The message shown on Pornhub in France where it’s blocked (Credit: NICOLAS GUYONNET/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
“The British public is being forced to hand over sensitive personal data to unregulated age assurance providers if they want to have full access to platforms such as Reddit and Bluesky or to use dating apps such as Grindr,” said James Baker, Programme Manager at Open Rights Group. “The threats and harms of phishing and hacking are very real, and will cause people online harms. The government needs to act to protect the public’s privacy and security.”
The other major criticism of the Online Safety Act is whether these laws go far enough. Savvy teenagers may still be able to access these services through a VPN or by finding ways to force themselves through age-estimation software. Adults across the UK are the testbed, and the world will be watching for any evidence of these restrictions having an impact on children’s safety.
About James Peckham
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