PornHub commits to age checks for UK users by 25 July

Ofcom, the UK’s digital regulator, has announced that PornHub and several other porn sites have agreed to put robust age checks in place by the deadline next month on 25 July. The confirmations to Ofcom will likely be used by the regulator against the companies if they fail to comply by the deadline as justification for a fine.

The companies that have publicly stated they’re going to have safeguards in place by the deadline are PornHub, BoyfriendTV, Cam4, FrolicMe, inxxx, Jerkmate, LiveHDCams, MyDirtyHobby, RedTube, Streamate, Stripchat, Tube8, and YouPorn. There may be other companies that are preparing, these are just the ones that were happy to be named.

Ofcom has been given the task of making sure porn sites comply with age check rules. If companies don’t follow the rules, Ofcom has the power to impose fines and even apply for a court order to ban websites or apps from being available in the UK. These rules are part of the wider Online Safety Act, which aims, in part, to keep children safe online. So far, it has launched investigations into four porn providers for failing to comply with its requests.

Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom Group Director of Online Safety said: “Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren’t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling. But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online.

“Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s.”

The new age verification methods come in various shapes and sizes (pun intended) including credit card checks, open banking, and facial age estimation. While these may not keep all kids from accessing porn, they’ll act as a significant hurdle.

For adults concerned about handing over information to access porn sites, Ofcom said that the measures do not harm your privacy. All of the age assurance methods are subject to the requirements of UK privacy laws, including on processing personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is overseeing this area to ensure companies comply.

Ofcom’s own studies have found that 3% of 8-9 year-olds have been exposed to online pornography at some point. This highlights how easy it is to find this content and clearly something has to be done. It’ll be interesting to see how these measures actually play out when they get rolled out.