For the past year or so, the UK has been requiring robust age checking mechanisms on various online platforms such as those hosting user-generated or adult content under its Online Safety Act (OSA). Investigations are being launched against non-compliant services as the government endeavors to protect children from potentially harmful content. However, it now appears that many age check hurdles are quite easy to bypass, even by underage adults.
As spotted by The Register, Internet Matters has published a report outlining the impact of OSA. The report is based on a survey which interviewed 1,000 children and their parents in the UK. It highlighted several positive effects of the OSA, including the integration of more child safety controls and filters on websites, age verification, and the surfacing of more child-friendly content.
However, the children surveyed have also reported that it is extremely easy to bypass age verification checks too. In some cases, they have been able to sidestep these mechanisms by simply entering the wrong birthday or even drawing a fake mustache on their face during image-based checks. 46% of the underage respondents claim that bypassing age gates is a piece of cake right now. Overall, 49% of children have still encountered harmful content online while their parents continue to worry about AI-generated material and the amount of time their child spends online.
Internet Matters suggests the following approaches to make the internet a safer place:
- Safety-by-design: Safety should be built into online services and new features from the start.
- Risk-based approach: Children’s access to online services should be determined by the level of risk posed by its features, functionalities and content, and the effectiveness of the safeguards it has in place.
- Age-appropriate experiences: Children’s access to content and features should be tailored to their stage of development rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
- Highly effective age assurance: Robust age checks are needed to accurately determine users ages and implement appropriate safeguards.
- Media literacy: This should be built into platforms and supported by schools and government for both parents and children.
That said, most of the methods outlined above don"t really tangibly define what parents, children, the government, and website owners can actually do to solve problems related to online harm. While the recommendations sound great on paper, actual implementation is a completely different beast altogether and one that needs to be defined more explicitly. You can read the report in full here.