Starting on Friday, adults in the United Kingdom who try to access pornography will be required to prove they are over the age of 18, in some of the strictest rules in the world.
The change means that instead of self-reported age checkboxes that allow anyone to say they are 18 or older, viewers will have to submit identification documents, age-estimating face scans, and bank documents such as credit card checks.
It is so far unclear how the changes will work exactly, but porn websites such as Pornhub and YouPorn have said they will comply with the rules.
The rules are part of the UK’s new Online Safety Act, which was passed in 2023. It covers social media platforms in addition to porn websites, and aims to prevent online harassment.
The UK regulator Ofcom said that the new rules are needed to create "a safer life online for people in the UK, particularly children".
Websites such as Reddit, social media platforms, and dating apps such as Grindr have all said they will put in age verification checks.
The regulator ultimately gives platforms the choice of the age verification tools they use, and has suggested checking bank details or online identity services.
But checks such as age verification boxes will no longer count.
If websites fail to put in the age checks, they can be fined up to £18 million (€20 million) or 10 per cent of their global revenue.
Will user data be safe?
Many online platforms, such as Meta, which may ask users to upload a government-issued ID or take a video selfie, have said that user data will be safe.
Many websites have privacy terms and conditions that state that personal data will not be saved by the company. However, users will have to decide whether to trust the platforms and check the fine print.
What are the loopholes?
Because users outside the UK will not have the same age rule checks, some users may be tempted to use a virtual private network (VPN) to pretend that they are accessing the websites from a different country.
It is not yet clear how the sites plan to prevent users from exploiting this potential loophole.
