 | This article needs to be updated. (July 2025) |
Originally proposed in the Digital Economy Act 2017, the UK has for many years sought to introduce a mandatory age verification system for internet pornography and other content.
In 2019, following several delays and setbacks, the government ceased progressing its duties under the Act that would have introduced the system. In 2023, the Online Safety Act both repealed the Digital Economy Act duties, and reintroduced a new duty for adult content to be subject to age checks under a different regulator. Additionally, at the time of its introduction, platforms began to require age verification to distinguish children from adults, in order to remove access to content deemed to be risky. As the privacy standards of the different age check tools are regulated only under data protection law, such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation, campaigners have raised concerns about the trustworthiness and safety of using these tools.