Will Ofcom stand up to the pornography industry?

By Gemma Kelly, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, CEASE

On Thursday 16th January 2025, Ofcom published its guidance on age verification for pornography sites that fall under Part 5 of the Online Safety Act 2023. These are websites that host commercially produced pornographic material and upload the content that is available on their site.   

So far so good. This is what we have campaigned for. But nothing is ever that simple.  

According to the guidance, these duties came into effect the following day – Friday 17th January 2025. However, pornography sites actually have until 3rd March 2025 to let Ofcom know how they will proceed with implementing age verification. Not implement age verification, just tell Ofcom how they will do it. They then have until July 2025 to actually comply with the regulations.  

Ofcom also published its guidance for Part 3 services on the same date. This guidance covers pornography sites that publish their own content as well as allowing users to upload content. Think Pornhub or XVideos.  

Again, sites that fall under Part 3 of the Act will have to implement age verification by July 2025. This will also apply to social media platforms that allow pornography on their sites, for example X (formerly Twitter), which was revealed in 2023 to be the site that children most frequently used to access pornography.  

All this talk of age verification will lead some people to ask – given that the protection of children from harmful content hangs on an agreed definition – what does age verification actually mean? Unfortunately, Ofcom has not defined a clear measurable standard for the ‘highly effective age verification’ that was mandated in the Online Safety Act.  

While the timeline for implementation and lack of definition leave much to be desired, the most alarming aspect of the guidance is once again Ofcom’s lax approach to its regulation.  

Ofcom continually give leeway to pornography companies and big tech, offering time and allowances that are at best not warranted and at worst downright dangerous. 

The pornography industry changed the internet, it is always finding new ways to innovate and ensure that violent hardcore pornography is being delivered into the hands of adults and children alike. It is a $97 billion industry; it has the money and capability to implement age verification.  

And Ofcom, as the government-mandated regulator of online safety, can ensure it does. Ofcom has the powers. What remains to be seen is if Ofcom has the will.  

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