Want to watch online porn in the UK – ID Check!

Adults who want to watch online porn in the UK could face ID-based age checks thanks to a plan
proposed by the porn industry, and which is fully supported by the Conservative government, in an a bid to protect children from inappropriate online material.

The new proposal means that in order to watch online porn in the UK viewers will need to verify that they are 18 years or older by handing over their personal information before viewing porn online. Porn operators in the UK who do not comply risk their site being blocked by a regulator, likely the Authority for Television on Demand (Atvod.)


It’s unclear at the moment whether overseas sites will require ID based age checks for pornography. Chris Ratliff told The Guardian  “As a matter of international law, I don’t understand how it can possibly work.”

Children in the UK are addicted to online porn according to a survey conducted by NSPCC ChildLine  which found that “one in five 12 to 13 year olds thinks that watching porn is normal behaviour.” The Conservative government, among many others, hope that ID-based age checks for pornography will help to protect children from adult content. However, free speech campaigner Jerry Barnett CEO of Sex & Censorship told Wired that he sees this as “dishonest marketing concocted by PR firms” and views the new proposal as more of a guise masquerading  to “protect children from porn” when in fact it’s a manipulate move to introduce internet censorship. “This should worry anyone who cares about online free expression”
He’s not alone. Many other critics are worried that the UK is aligning itself to strict censorship and privacy measures that exist in China. “This is cutting-edge censorship. We are now becoming the world leaders in censorship…” said Myles Jackman, a lawyer in obscenity law who spoke to The Guardian recently.

Adults who wish to watch online porn in the UK will be able to prove their age by one of many ID based age check providers, such as mobile operators, banks, the post office, credit agencies or even perhaps the NHS.

According to the proposal, an “anonymising hub” would be used that would only confirm a user’s age – no personal identifying information would be stored and that a third party such as a bank or post office would not know the reason for age verification. However, as we know, data breaches do happen. Could this new measure open the door wide open to abuse from attackers and other unscrupulous third parties? Can we really trust this system? Can we really believe what we’re told?
Jerry Barnett, a free speech campaigner, sees this as another control measure being embraced by the UK government. “This is the state, yet again, intervening in people’s private lives for no reason other than good old British prurience and control-freakery.”

The UK government has been working hard to control porn in the UK, from banning a number of sex acts from UK-produced porn, to implementing porn filters which inadvertently blocked a number of sex education sites.

UK laws work in mysterious ways, and while it is important to protect our children from inappropriate material, and other online dangers, when you’re 16 in the UK you can get married (with parental consent), and you can buy a lottery ticket. Males and females 16 and over may have sexual relations, (heterosexual or homosexual), with other people aged over 16. And it’s not illegal for children over the age of five to drink at home or on other private premises! BUT young adults under the age of 18 still need to be protected from online porn?!

The sex industry has been around for centuries, it’s not going anywhere – unless of course, the UK has its way and ID based age checks for pornography is made law.

Do you think this proposal for ID based age checks for pornography is about protecting children from online porn or more about censorship?

Name of the Provider	Website Address
Hide My Ass	Visit Provider
Strong VPN	Visit Provider
Switch VPN	Visit Provider
Pure VPN	Visit Provider
IPVanish VPN	Visit Provider
Hotspot Shield Elite	Visit Provider