Pornographic websites which fail to verify the age of their users will be blocked under a new Government crackdown.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will be given new powers to restrict sites in the UK and overseas.
It comes after research concluded that more than half of 11 to 16-year-olds in the UK have encountered pornography online.
‘Blocked’
Currently, the BBFC can send warning letters to websites and withdraw payment services if they refuse to comply, but it cannot block access to the sites.
It will now have the authority to block sites “regardless of where they are based”.
Karen Bradley, the Culture Secretary, said: “We have appointed a regulator to make sure the right age checks are in place. If sites refuse to comply, they should be blocked.”
Amendments to the Digital Economy Bill are set to be made later this month to bring in the powers.
If sites refuse to comply, they should be blocked.
Karen Bradley, Culture Secretary
Childhood
Earlier this year, research commissioned by the NSPCC and the Children’s Commissioner for England found that around 53 per cent of 11 to 16-year-olds have encountered porn online.
According to the study conducted by Middlesex University, more than a quarter had first seen explicit content at the ages of eleven and twelve years old.
The NSPCC warned that an entire generation of children was at risk of being “stripped of their childhoods” through exposure to porn at a young age.