By July, websites hosting pornographic or harmful content must implement robust age verification systems for UK users, according to Ofcom. The new guidelines, issued ahead of the Online Safety Act enforcement, warn companies that they need to ensure users are not underage. Services hosting their own pornographic content must start implementing age checks immediately, while user-to-user platforms like social media have until July. Ofcom CEO Dame Melanie Dawes emphasizes the need to protect children from accessing inappropriate content online. Platforms will use methods like open banking, photo ID matching, or facial age estimation to verify age. Social media and search engines must also assess their risk to children by April 16th.
Websites that host pornographic or other harmful content must have 'robust' age verification in place for UK users by July at the latest, Ofcom has said. In a new round of guidance ahead of the enforcement of the Online Safety Act, the regulator warned companies that allow adult content they will need to bring in measures to prove a user is not a child. It added that services which host their own pornographic content 'must begin taking steps immediately' to bring in age checks.
'As age checks start to roll out in the coming months, adults will start to notice a difference in how they access certain online services,' Dame Melanie said. 'Those companies that fail to meet these new requirements can expect to face enforcement action from Ofcom.
AGE VERIFICATION ONLINE SAFETY PORNOGRAPHY OFCOM UK LAW
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