A deadline has now been set for adult website, Pornhub, to start introducing major age restrictions to anyone wanting to access the site in United Kingdom.
Pornhub is the most visited porn site in the whole of the UK, as well as around the world, according to data from Similarweb.
However, it's clear that the site's previous age-verifying technique - which Ofcom previously said includes simply clicking a button claiming you're over 18 - is simply not enough to ensure the safety of children and young people.
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Shockingly, the regulator pointed to recent research which indicated that as many as eight percent of children aged eight-14 in the UK had visited an online porn site or app over a 28-day period - this included about 3 percent of eight to nine year olds, the survey suggests.
"For too long, many online services which allow porn and other harmful material have ignored the fact that children are accessing their services," said Dame Melanie Dawes, Ofcom's chief executive, in an announcement made back in January of this year.
"Either they don't ask or, when they do, the checks are minimal and easy to avoid."
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She went on to explain: "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."
Ofcom has previously published a 'non-exhaustive' list of technologies that may be used to verify ages, which include the below:
- Open banking
- Photo ID matching
- Facial age estimation
- Mobile network operator age checks
- Credit card checks
- Digital identity services
- Email-based age estimation
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Dawes previously added those companies that fail to meet these new requirements can 'expect to face enforcement action from Ofcom'.
She also announced that 'adults will start to notice a difference in how they access certain online service' the age checks start to roll out in the coming months with a hard deadline of July 2025.
"Services which host their own pornography must start to introduce age checks immediately, while other user-to-user services - including social media - which allow pornography and certain other types of content harmful to children will have to follow suit by July at the latest," she continued.
"We'll be monitoring the response from industry closely."
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Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, has now confirmed that it is bringing in 'government approved age assurance methods' around this time next month (25 July).
However, thus far, it has not been revealed as to which technique for verifying users' ages it will use.
Aylo's vice president of brand and community Alex Kekesi said Ofcom put forward several flexible methods of age assurance that were less intrusive than those it had seen in other jurisdictions.
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"Ofcom recognises the scale of the challenge ahead and is approaching it with thorough consideration," she said, adding that the regulator's model is 'the most robust in terms of actual and meaningful protection we've seen to date'.
She concluded: "When governments and regulators engage with industry in good faith, the outcome is not just better compliance, it's smarter, more effective solutions".
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Life, Social Media, Technology, UK News, News, Parenting
Rhiannon Ingle