The UK's new online age verification rules

New regulations in the UK have forced adult websites to use more robust age verification measures to protect children from harmful content.

The introduction of the rules last week was a "seatbelt moment" for children's online safety, said The Guardian, but not everyone is convinced the measures will work.

How will they work?

The new rules from the regulator Ofcom state that sites hosting adult content now need to have "highly effective" age verification in place.

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So rather than the current checks, which merely ask users to tick a box confirming they're over 18, site owners will have to verify their users' ages. This could mean requiring users to submit photo ID such as a passport or driving licence or by asking them to record a short video clip of their face to be analysed by AI age estimation technology.

What sites will require age verification?

Every company with adult content on its site is obliged to implement age checks. These include adult video sites such as Pornhub – Ofcom estimates that around 6,000 porn websites alone are affected by the change – but also platforms where users are able to share X-rated content as well as more mainstream material, such as Reddit or Discord.

Ofcom is ready to be "tough" with websites that don't comply, Jessica Smith, the regulator's online safety principal, told Sky News. Companies that flout the rules could be fined up to £18 million or 10% of their global turnover, and their sites could also be blocked in the UK.

Can't people just get round it?

Many people are expected to use virtual private networks, or VPNs, to dodge the regulations. VPNs, which are legal, allow users to securely connect one device to another using the internet, so they can "switch" their device's geographical location.

They're already widely used to get round anything blocked because of location and "there's often a spike in VPN interest when a country introduces new age-check laws", said Wired. Ofcom has told platforms not to host, share or permit content encouraging the use of VPNs.

Within hours of the new rules coming into force, two "ethical hackers" showed how "simple" it is to get around them, said Sky News. Using devices that were "running standard software", the hackers used basic "tricks" to quickly circumvent the restrictions.

Are they enough to protect children?

While workarounds meant the measures may not stop "determined young people" from accessing adult content, it's hoped that they will at least stop inappropriate material from "popping up unexpectedly" on young people's feeds.

No checks are "completely infallible", a spokesperson for children's charity Barnardo's told The Independent, and websites hosting adult content should take a "continuous approach" to improving age verification measures.

There are also fears that the new measures will backfire by driving people, including children, to the "dark web", which hosts "less regulated spaces with more dangerous and explicit sexual material", said the BBC.

And some experts believe the rules will "ultimately harm children and adults alike", said Wired. Sharing sensitive documents like a passport or driving licence opens the door to concerns around hacking and data breaches that could put users at risk of blackmail, fraud or impersonation.