CEASE Statement on UK Government introducing Age Verification

From Vanessa Morse, CEO:

Today’s announcement by the Government that the forthcoming Online Safety Bill will require all online platforms hosting pornography to install age verification measures is both extremely welcome and long overdue.  

The pornography industry got away with giving millions of UK children free, unfettered access to its websites, profiting from the harm it caused them. This is outrageous negligence from an industry that simply cannot be trusted to self-regulate. Age verification is a vital child protection measure, and Ofcom must be given the power to begin preparatory work on it immediately.

We urge the Government to make this the first of many steps towards bringing the porn industry to heel. We want to see robust action on both the illegal and legal but harmful pornography that is driving real-world sexual violence, harassment and abuse. 

A word to the porn industry: your day in the sun is over. Our children deserve better.

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