Privacy and free speech campaigners have criticised the government’s plans to force pornography websites to use age checks or face being blocked.

Websites flouting the new rules, which are part of the Digital Economy Act, could reportedly find that a regulator has told internet service providers to prevent access to them. Those who provide payment and other services to such sites could also be asked to impose restrictions.

Porn site users will have to provide details from a credit card, which cannot be legally issued to anyone under 18, according to the Mail on Sunday. Gambling websites use the same system of verification.

The government is also expected to announce plans to appoint a regulator to police the sex websites. It is believed this could be the British Board of Film Classification – which sets age limits on films, DVDs and video games.

The aim is for all online pornography to have age verification controls by April 2018 along with the appointment of a new regulatory body to oversee and enforce it, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said.



But the plans have faced a backlash from privacy and free speech campaigners.

Jim Killock, the executive director of campaign body Open Rights Group, said: “Age verification could lead to porn companies building databases of the UK’s porn habits, which could be vulnerable to Ashley Madison-style hacks.

“The government has repeatedly refused to ensure that there is a legal duty for age verification providers to protect the privacy of web users.

“There is also nothing to ensure a free and fair market for age verification.”

Killock said Open Rights was concerned that MindGeek – one of the world’s biggest pornographic website operators, which owns PornHub, YouPorn and other brands and has its headquarters in Luxembourg – would become the Facebook of age verification, dominating the UK market.

“They would then decide what privacy risks or profiling take place for the vast majority of UK citizens,” Killock said.

“Age verification risks failure as it attempts to fix a social problem with technology. In their recent manifestos, all three main political parties called for compulsory sex and relationship education in schools. Sex education would genuinely protect young people, as it would give them information and context.”



Jerry Barnett, author of the book Porn Panic! and a free speech campaigner, said: “This law is the culmination of years of lobbying by a wide variety of state and private interests, and will fundamentally change the internet in the UK and possibly globally. For the first time, the government has the power to block websites, en masse, without court orders. This is a first in a democracy.

“Although this appears to be just about protecting children from porn, it isn’t. It will block any site that doesn’t comply with strict UK content rules. Any nude image at all risks being categorised as porn, and the entire site being blocked. Current filtering systems class up to 4m websites as sexual. It’s likely this regime will block the vast majority of these. And doubtless, the censorship regime will then be extended to other crimes against decency.

“Although much attention has been paid to the very dangerous snooper’s charter, this law is at least as dangerous, and has had far less attention.”

The digital minister, Matt Hancock, who is to set to formally start the process with a written statement to the House of Commons on Monday, insisted that the measures were vital. “Now we are taking the next step to put in place the legal requirement for websites with adult content to ensure it is safely behind an age verification control,” he said.



“All this means that while we can enjoy the freedom of the web, the UK will have the most robust internet child protection measures of any country in the world.”

Online pornography, which experts say can damage a child’s development and decision-making, has been seen by 65% of 15 to 16-year-olds and 48% of 11 to 16-year-olds, according to an NSPCC report in 2016.

The study also found that 28% of children may have stumbled across pornography while 19% had searched for it deliberately.

Will Gardner, the chief executive of internet safety charity Childnet, said: “Protecting children from exposure, including accidental exposure, to adult content is incredibly important, given the effect it can have on young people.

“Steps like this to help restrict access, alongside the provision of free parental controls and education, are key.

“It is essential to help parents and carers, as well as young people, be more aware of this risk and what they can do to prevent exposure and also to make sense of exposure if it happens.”

A spokesman for Pornhub said: “It is our corporate responsibility as part of the global tech community to promote ethical and responsible behaviour. We firmly believe that parents are best placed to police their children’s online activity using the plethora of tools already available in modern operating systems.”