Pornographers are complaining that Government plans for age verification laws will lead to a loss of business.
Pornography sites are largely unregulated but from next year the British Board of Film Classification will be able to restrict sites which fail to block access to under-18s.
Porn group Pandora/Blake say that smaller pornography websites have already given up rather than comply with the new laws.
‘Welcome step’
Nola Leach, Chief Executive of Christian charity CARE, welcomed the Government’s plan to restrict porn websites when it was announced.
She said: “The distinction between the offline and online world becomes less apparent almost daily in our fast-paced digital age.”
Mrs Leach added that “age-verification for access to pornographic content is a very welcome step towards bringing protection of children online into step with the offline world”.
Restrictions
In September, a well-known writer and director said pornography should be restricted on the internet in the same way as it is in the shops.
Armando Iannucci OBE, the man behind The Day Today, Alan Partridge and The Thick of It, believes big digital companies like Google and Facebook should have the same responsibilities as retailers.
Iannucci said: “We have porn freely available on the internet, but not in supermarkets, so what’s wrong with restricting it?”