UK online safety law leads to 5m extra age checks a day for pornography sites
Five million extra online age checks a day are being carried out in the UK since the introduction of age-gating for pornography sites, according to new data.The Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA) said there had been a sharp increase in additional age checks in the UK since Friday, when age verification became mandatory for accessing pornography under the Online Safety Act.“As a result of new codes under the Online Safety Act coming into force on Friday, we have seen an additional 5m age checks on a daily basis, as UK-based internet users seek to access sites that are age-restricted,” said Iain Corby, the executive director of the AVPA.The UK has also seen a surge in popularity of virtual private networks, which obscure a user’s real location and thus allow them to access sites blocked in their own country.Four of the top five free apps on the Apple download store in the UK are VPN apps, with Proton, the most popular, reporting a 1,800% increase in downloads.
Last week the UK’s communications regulator and enforcer of the act, Ofcom, indicated that it could start formal investigations into inadequate age checking this week.Ofcom said it would be actively checking compliance with age-checking requirements and if necessary would launch investigations into individual services.The AVPA, the trade association for age-verification companies in Britain, surveyed members who were carrying out checks for UK pornography providers.These providers were required to introduce “highly effective” age verification on 25 July.The age-checking companies were asked to submit “the volume of checks you carried out today for highly effective age assurance”.
The AVPA said it could not offer a baseline comparison but effective age assurance was new to dedicated pornography sites in the UK.Previously, many porn sites in the UK only required users to tick a box to verify their age.An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Until now, kids could easily stumble across porn and other online content that’s harmful to them without even looking for it.Age checks will help prevent that.We’re now assessing compliance to make sure platforms have them in place, and companies that fall short should expect to face enforcement action.
”Ofcom has said service providers should not encourage users to deploy VPNs in order to circumvent age controls.The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know.If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods.Secure Messaging in the Guardian appThe Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs.
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Punishments for breaching the Online Safety Act, including for inadequate age-checking procedures, range from 10% of worldwide revenue to blocking access to the site or app in extreme cases.Age-assurance methods supported by Ofcom and offered by AVPA members include facial age estimation, where technology assesses a person’s likely age through a live photo or video; checking a person’s age via their credit card provider, bank or mobile phone network operator; photo ID matching, where a passport or similar ID is checked against a selfie; or a “digital identity wallet” that contains proof of age.Major pornography providers including Pornhub, the UK’s most popular pornography site, have pledged to implement the strict age checks required under the act.The act also requires sites and apps to shield children from other forms of harmful material, particularly content that encourages suicide, self-harm and eating disorders.It requires tech platforms to suppress the spread of content that is abusive or incites hatred against people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act such as age, race and sex.
Free speech campaigners have said the child-harm content restrictions have led to material on X being age-gated unnecessarily, along with some forums on Reddit including one dedicated to tackling alcohol abuse,Reddit and X have been contacted for comment,
Air traffic control failure an isolated incident, says UK minister after meeting
A radar-related technical failure that led to hundreds of flights being disrupted on Wednesday was an “isolated event” with “no evidence of malign activity”, the transport secretary has said, after summoning the head of the UK air traffic control service, Nats, to account for the disruption.Heidi Alexander said she met Martin Rolfe, the under-fire chief executive of Nats, to understand what happened and what could be done to prevent a reoccurrence in the future after more than 150 flights were cancelled and others delayed by the latest glitch.It is understood that Alexander did not press Rolfe to consider his position, despite fresh calls from Ryanair for him to quit.Most of the disruption from the brief stoppage came at Heathrow. A total of 84 departures and 71 arrivals were cancelled by 10pm on Wednesday, and some inbound flights were diverted to European cities
Pound on track for worst month in almost two years; ‘no evidence of malign activity’ behind UK airport disruption – as it happened
The tale of the pound’s tricky month is of course the other side of dollar strength – something of a turnaround after a period of notable falls in the value of the greenback.The dollar had declined as investors questioned the attractiveness of US assets under Donald Trump when he was committed to trade wars. Trump has gone ahead with tariffs on most of the US’s imports, but he has not quite followed through with the worst of his threats in recent weeks.Allied to that, the US Federal Reserve has signalled that it is cautious about cutting interest rates, as it is worried about the inflationary pressure coming from tariffs. That has made the dollar relatively more attractive
How will Australia’s under-16s social media ban be enforced, and which platforms will be exempt?
Australians using a range of social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and X will need to have their age checked to ensure they’re 16 or older when the social media ban comes into effect from early December.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailHow will it work? And what information will people need to hand over?From 10 December, new laws will apply to platforms that meet the government’s definition of an “age-restricted social media platform”, which has the sole or significant purpose of enabling social interaction with two or more users, and which allows users to post material on the service. The government has not specified by name any platforms that will be included in the ban, meaning any site that meets the above definition could be included except if they meet the exemptions released on Wednesday.The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said that the covered platforms include – but are not limited to – Facebook, Instagram, X, Snapchat, and YouTube.The communications minister, Anika Wells, said these platforms would be expected to take reasonable steps to deactivate accounts for users under 16, prevent kids registering new accounts, check ages, and also prevent workarounds to bypass the restrictions
Met police to more than double use of live facial recognition
Britain’s biggest police force is to more than double its use of live facial recognition to up to 10 deployments a week.The move by the Metropolitan police comes as it restructures to cover the loss of 1,400 officers and 300 staff amid budget shortages.Live facial recognition – which involves the matching of faces caught on surveillance camera footage against a police watchlist in real time – will now be used up to 10 times a week across five days, up from the current four times a week across two days.The tactic will be deployed at the Notting Hill carnival over the August bank holiday.An older form of the technology was trialled at the event in 2016 and 2017
Nottinghamshire v Somerset, Durham v Surrey, and more: county cricket day three – live
Hoppsy with the penultimate chapter from Chester le Street.The floodlights are on at The Riverside and there is a spark of life in this game. Surrey have lost 3 for 94 in pursuit of 176. Dom Sibley’s pained 35 from 47 balls with a runner is looking invaluable after the loss of two more wickets in successive overs - Ryan Patel mistiming a pull against Mattie Potts and Rory Burns stumped when he advanced to Callum Parkinson and didn’t get into the same parish. You could have got a parish church and team of bell ringers in between him and the ball
England v India: fifth men’s cricket Test, day one – live
33rd over: India 96-3 (Sudharsan 34, Nair 5) A single to Nair, then Overton incites extra bounce and Sudharsan, who might just be cementing himself into the side, prances, rising with the ball and cutting hard to third man for four. That was very, very good – the eyes and hands necessary to play that shot are not available to all.As regards the below, incidentally, this is lovely:32nd over: India 91-3 (Sudharsan 30, Nair 4)With Atkinson coming around, Sudharsan opens the face and forces away to deep third for a couple, then a pigeon “Speckled Jim, says Ian Ward – flies across his eye-line as the bowler releases; he’s so focused he doesn’t appear to notice.This scene reminds me of a lovely word the Blackadder lot used to use – “plumpening” – which they used to describe the process they went through when they had a gag, then sat about together trying to work out its funniest form.31st over: India 89-3 (Sudharsan 28, Nair 4) Good loosener from Lil Overton, lifting off a length, but behind it is filth, short, wide, and ignored by Nair, who opts not to risk getting out by leaving along
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