Communications Manager Paul Huxley comments on the new requirement that websites which show pornographic content to UK users will finally have to implement age checks
After years of delay, websites that show pornographic content to UK users will finally implement real age checks as of this Friday 25 July.
The law was first changed to require this in 2017 when the Digital Economy Act received Royal Assent. But the law was never implemented, meaning irresponsible websites like PornHub continued to make no meaningful checks on the age of its users. Anyone could click a button to say they were over 18 and immediately access hardcore pornography in all its forms.
Now, these sites will use one of several checks to verify their users’ ages. These include banking/credit card checks, facial age estimation and email-based age estimation.
It is not yet clear how effective these controls will be. It is in these sites’ interest to make these processes as easy as possible and some sites may deliberately make them ineffective as a form of malicious compliance. There will also be overseas websites that break these rules, not to mention many other ways this material is shared.
Yet it’s still a very meaningful change which Christians should support.
Children are accessing pornography
The latest figures suggest that 8% of 8-14-year-olds in the UK have viewed online pornography. Young people having unmediated access to this explicit material has all kinds of devastating consequences, including addiction, self-esteem problems and warped ideas about sex. It is likely a significant factor behind the rise of sexual harassment in schools.
And, of course, it’s inciting the sin of lust.
For years, it has been harder to decline website cookies than it has been to access this material. Even if some young people are able to bypass or avoid these checks, many curious minds will see the hurdle and think of something better to do instead. Even if it only delays some children watching pornography, that delay alone can be valuable. These websites aren’t good for anyone, but protecting the littlest ones is an important step to take.
This is good news for adult addicts
The truth is that many adults are addicts to pornography. A sizeable proportion of these men and women, which includes many Christians, wish they weren’t addicted. But it can be difficult to fight such an addiction when it is trivially easy to access this kind of material in its most potent forms.
Barriers can be useful in this fight. They are not sufficient; we want to be people of purity for whom sin holds no attraction whatsoever. Nevertheless, the ease with which someone can fall back into a pornography addiction at the moment is unlike other addictions. Unless someone cuts off all their access to the internet – which would cause many other challenges – they could go from initial temptation to a complete relapse in a matter of minutes, without anyone else having an idea.
Age verification checks at the very least are a chance to slow down this process. It provides another chance for the addict to remember what they are doing and turn away from sin.
One reason Amazon came to dominate online shopping was the ease and speed of its ‘1-Click’ buy which allowed users to order goods with the minimum possible barriers. These small changes can have big effects.
If age verification checks can slow down adult addicts, it will become slightly easier to break the hold of this sin.
What about privacy?
The main objection some had to these measures was privacy concerns. The claim was that forcing people to use some kind of age verification system would compromise people’s privacy.
On one hand, these concerns were overblown – there are many technical ways to verify a user’s age that don’t require personal data like passport details or photographs to be stored on servers indefinitely.
But also, part of me says: “good.” It’s not safe to assume that the deeds done in the dark will stay that way forever. If a server with personal details is at some point compromised, it will only serve as a foretaste of Luke 8:17 – everything secret will be one day be made known to all.
It is better to be exposed now, and repent, than to be exposed on day of judgment when time has run out.
That’s why it is probably good for those accessing pornography to have a little worry in the backs of their minds that they might be exposed. Sin is never safe.
What about ‘free speech’?
Some people with libertarian instincts are concerned about any kind of restrictions on internet content, seeing it as censorship and worrying about the precedent it might set.
The argument might go:
“Yes, it’s good to stop children from accessing this material, but what precedent does it set? What other content will the government deem inappropriate for children? Perhaps it will hide sections of the Bible that describe violence or sex next?”
I understand this fear. But this is only a precedent in the most superficial way. Written words are significantly different from HD videos. Scripture never writes these accounts in a way that titillates. There is no one seriously arguing for such controls to be put in place, nor would there be any evidence that this is a problem.
We too easily fall for these kinds of arguments based on a false ‘equality’ between very different things. Christian worship and Aztec human sacrifice could both be described as religious practices but defending one does not mean defending the other.
Does it go far enough?
At the other end of the spectrum, a Christian might say that these age restrictions do not go far enough – pornography should simply be banned.
I have no principled argument against this. I’ve said it myself.
We don’t need to make perfect the enemy of the good, though. This is a useful step to take, in the right direction. Nothing about this change concedes that pornography is in any way good or valuable; supporting this change does not undermining our morals in any way.
What’s more, I expect that many providers will fail to even implement these measures. We should be ready to campaign for such sites to be swiftly blocked with fines and other measures taken against their owners.
A world without pornography?
I’m not naïve – I know full well that there would always be workarounds and ways for determined people to find this content. But the scourge of online pornography has had profound effects on our culture. As bad as top-shelf magazines might have been, they could never be as visceral or accessible as the online pornography of the last 30 years.
The sexual desires of men and women alike have been deeply twisted through exposure and addiction to pornography. Lust thrives on taboo, driving users to ever-more extreme desires. Lusts for violence, humiliation, same-sex interaction, incest and many other ungodly perversions have grown out of the availability of continued exposure to pornography.
All this affects single and married people in countless ways. Some may lose all sexual desires for their spouse or potential spouse. Some may seek and find it outside the marriage bed. Some may try open or polyamorous relationships to satisfy their lusts. Some may compel their spouses to fulfil their degrading desires.
Even if they don’t, the numbers of Christians who are, statistically-speaking, slaves to this sin will greatly impact their ability to love and serve God, family and church. Like those engaging in any pattern of sin, they will feel distant from God, like they are hypocrites, like they can’t praise God, evangelise or disciple others because of the state of their own hearts.
One wonders how many failures of the church to speak to cultural issues like sexuality, gender and abortion have the root cause of church leaders who are addicted to pornography.
So give thanks to God with me that this change is finally about to be made.
If it keeps just a few people away from woman Folly (Proverbs 9:13-18), it will be worth it.
