New rules from Ofcom will require websites hosting pornography and other harmful content to implement robust age checks by July 2025. This aims to protect children from exposure to inappropriate material. The regulator is enforcing the Online Safety Act, which mandates age checks for services likely to be accessed by children. Sites will need to use age assurance tools like photo ID matching, facial age estimation, or credit card checks. Failure to comply could result in enforcement action from Ofcom.
New rules from Ofcom will mean that websites which host pornography and other harmful content must introduce “robust” age checks in an effort to prevent children being exposed to it.
Ofcom’s guidance said services which allow pornography or other adult content will be required to introduce age assurance tools to prove a user is not a child, such as photo ID matching, facial age estimation or credit card checks. “Either they don’t ask or, when they do, the checks are minimal and easy to avoid. That means companies have effectively been treating all users as if they’re adults, leaving children potentially exposed to porn and other types of harmful content. Today, this starts to change.”
Ofcom said it will then publish codes of practice for sites which are likely to be accessed by children, which will set out how they can implement measures to keep younger users safe. Sites must then complete a children’s risk assessment by July and implement any required measures, which may include age checks. These checks will be required, regardless of the type of site, if it allows pornography.
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