The Government has said it will ensure explicit websites will be held to a higher standard in verifying the age of their users.
According to new amendments to the Online Safety Bill, age-verification systems being used by such websites will be required to be “highly effective at correctly determining whether or not a particular user is a child”.
Additionally, tech executives will be held personally responsible for keeping children safe.
‘Countless delays’
The Christian Institute’s Deputy Director, Ciarán Kelly, welcomed the amendments to the Bill.
He said: “Studies repeatedly show how harmful pornography is for young people: sullying future relationships, damaging self-esteem, and giving them a completely warped idea of what a sexual relationship should be.
“So it is good to see that after enormous effort from our friends at CARE, and countless delays, the Government is finally taking seriously the need to protect children.
“We have been promised protections before only for those safeguards to be abandoned. It is imperative that this time the Government stays the course”.
Public support
Polling has shown strong public support for more stringent age-verification systems.
In 2021, a Savanta:ComRes opinion poll of more than 2,000 UK adults for CARE found that almost eighty per cent agreed with the statement: “There should be an age limit of 18 years for access to online pornography.”
And this year, a survey of 1,148 adults by PeoplePolling for GB News revealed that 78 per cent backed the use of age-verification checks to prevent children from gaining access to online pornography. Only 5 per cent disagreed with the proposal.
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