The UK requires adult content sites to introduce “effective” age verification methods.

The UK has spent more than a decade trying to regulate who can access adult content online and he failed, again and again. But things could only change, as OfCom, the country’s government-approved communications services regulator, has finally published its age checks guide. How exactly, they will impose that guidance is not clear, but baby steps.

The new obligations derive from October 2023 Online Safety Actwhich requires services to prevent children from accessing pornographic content. Ofcom has published a initial draft of expectations for services at the end of 2023, saying that he would publish his final guide in early 2025 – so, we are right on time.

“For too long, many online services that allow pornography and other harmful material have ignored the fact that children access their services,” Melanie Dawes, CEO of Ofcom, said in a statement. “Either they don’t ask or, when they do, the checks are minimal and easy to avoid. This means that companies have effectively treated all users as if they were adults, leaving children potentially exposed to porn and other types of harmful content. Today, this is starting to change.”

At first, Ofcom it is necessary for all applicable services to determine whether children are likely to access any part of their offers from April 16. In that same month, Ofcom publishes its Child Protection Codes and guidelines for carrying out a risk assessment for children. Any service likely to be used by children will need to do this assessment by July. They also need to have protective measures in place if children try to use their services, such as age checks. Any site that has pornography (whether created by the service, users or generative AI) should introduce strict age controls as soon as possible.

As Ofcom says, “age verification methods implemented by services must be technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair to be considered highly effective.” These techniques may include photo ID matching, facial age estimation, digital identity services and mobile network operator age checks, to name a few. Users who declare their age and online payments in which a person must not be 18 are not acceptable methods. Pornography should not be visible at all before or during these checks. However, the regulator stresses that services must balance the protection of the privacy of adult users and access rights.

Ofcom says it will contact many adult services about these requirements and “will not hesitate” to take action against or investigate services that ignore their obligations. Again, these exact actions are not clear, so we will see how well these regulations will be enforced.