Porn sites could face penalties for not protecting children

On Tuesday 8 February 2022 – this year’s ‘Safer Internet Day’ – the UK government announced new draft measures to protect children from accessing online pornography.

As part of the draft Online Safety Bill, the potential new legislation would require all websites that host pornography to “put robust checks in place to ensure their users are 18 years old or over.” If passed, the legislation would affect not only major porn sites, such as PornHub, but also any website that publishes pornography, such as OnlyFans, as well as social media sites, video-sharing platforms and even search engines.

It will be up to companies themselves to decide how to comply with the new rules, but sites may choose to use secure age verification technology to verify that the viewer possesses a credit card and is over the age of 18, or by using a third-party service to confirm the person’s age against government data. This won’t be the same as a full identity check, but sites could legally verify a person’s age against phone data, passport data or data that the government already holds.

Age verification controls are already widely used online, such as in the online gambling sector and age-restricted sales.

Sites that fail to enforce the new measures could be fined up to 10% of their global turnover or could be blocked by Ofcom from being accessible in the UK.

The Online Safety Bill is expected to be introduced in Parliament over the next few months.

Calls to protect children’s safety

Groups, including Christian Concern, have been campaigning for years for governments to enforce age-verification controls for online pornography. This was one of the main policies we encouraged the government to adopt in the 2019 General Election. A recent poll suggests some 83% of parents agree that age-verification controls for online pornography should be in place.

Around 99% of 12-15-year-olds are online. Before the UK lockdowns, a survey by the British Board of Film Classification reported that some 51% of 11 to 13-year-olds had seen porn online at some time. This figure rises to 66% for 14 to 15-year-olds and even higher to 79% of 16 to 17-year-olds.

The effect of seeing porn so young can be greatly damaging. In its press release, the government asserted:

“There are widespread concerns this is impacting the way young people understand healthy relationships, sex and consent. Half of parents worry that online pornography is giving their kids an unrealistic view of sex and more than half of mums fear it gives their kids a poor portrayal of women.”

In our Pure talks, Elisha Kolade tells his story of first being exposed to pornography aged 12. He became a regular user of porn from age 13, eventually leading to an addiction that damaged his cognitive ability and led him to suicidal thoughts. Gary McFarlane, former Christian Legal Centre client and speaker at our Pure Conference, also described some of his experiences counselling people out of porn and sex addiction which began at a young age.

Digital Minister Chris Philp commented: “It is too easy for children to access pornography online. Parents deserve peace of mind that their children are protected online from seeing things no child should see.”

Concerns over free speech and privacy

Civil liberty campaigners have voiced concerns over privacy, arguing that a database of pornography users could create a huge hacking target for blackmailers. However, this claim goes unfounded, as Iain Corby, executive director of the Age Verification Providers Association explained: “By using independent, third-party organisations which are audited and certified to comply with the highest standards of data protection and security, adults can be confident their own privacy will be preserved while their children are protected.”

Ofcom will be able to issue fines of up to 10% of annual global turnover to sites that are non-compliant. However, the government has assured people that it still supports free speech, with Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries commenting: “This government said it would legislate to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online while enshrining free speech, and that’s exactly what we are going to do. Our world leading bill will protect children from online abuse and harms, protecting the most vulnerable from accessing harmful content, and ensuring there is no safe space for terrorists to hide online.”

The Church must now act

We praise God that porn websites will now be legally required to verify the age of their users. Many children will protected as a result of the new internet safety laws, as long as measures are properly enforced.

However, the problem with porn also runs much deeper in society. In truth, it is not simply a crisis that is solved with new legislation that protects children. Pornography is a public health crisis – and an issue that the Church must deal with. The Church is the hope for the nation, and we have a gospel that heals, washes and sanctifies. The message the Church needs to be speaking is this: “Whatever you have seen and watched, whatever you have done, know that there is grace and forgiveness in the Cross of Jesus Christ.”