New rules mean that you will have to prove you are over the age of 18 – and be on a database, in order to view porn from mid-July.
Anyone who is watching porn via a British IP address will have to prove they’re of legal age to watch the content from mid-July. The new legislation has many critics concerned about privacy protection. The House of Commons passed the issue quietly on Monday, 17th December 2018.
Users will need to, from 15th July 2019, register on porn sites with official documents such as a driver’s license, passport or an age verification card. One of the systems in place is called the AgeID system another is called AVSecure.
The law means that you have to prove you are over the age of 18 before you can access porn sites in the UK and is part of the Digital Economy Act. The rules will apply to any website or platform which offers porn on a “commercial basis”.
Sites that do not keep a database of its users and their ages maybe blocked to users in the UK.
Advocates for the new rules hope that the measures will protect children from online porn.
However, despite its intentions to protect children from accessing porn, the new law will not stop minors from being able to view unlawful content on social media.
Porn Passes from the Newsagents
Plans are being made to make “porn passes” available at local newsagents, which will allow people in the UK who want to watch porn to bypass inputting personal data which proves their age to various porn sites, according to The Independent. It is a way in which people can access porn anonymously once the new law comes into force.
Buying a “porn pass” means that you will have to hand over personal information to your local newsagent, who will be able to issue you with an anonymous pass, which will allow you access to adult sites in the UK.
Some of the activities banned by the Conservative government could overtly affect the porn consumption of gay men in the UK – including those who watch BDSM, rimming (facesitting) and fisting.
