Masturbation is about to get a lot more fiddly from April this year – with all porn sites requiring credit card details or government-issued ID.

And yes, that includes the free ones.

The plan has now been approved by a government body, the Regulatory Policy Committee, which ruled that the plan was ‘fit for purpose’.

Now where did I put my government issued porn permit (Getty)

The committee assesses government policies in terms of their likely costs, according to The Register, and suggests that the costs to the BBFC (which will enforce the ban) will be about £4.45 million.


The report says, ‘The report says, ‘The regulator will be empowered to direct internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to sites which fail to comply with appropriate AV (age verification) requirements and those which host extreme material.

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‘The regulator will also be able to direct ISPs to block access to sites containing ‘extreme pornography’, regardless of whether AV controls are in place.’



But the report warns that the plans do not ‘assess the costs to pornography providers resulting from the proposal’.

Under the plan, porn site users will be greeted with a warning page requiring them to log in via an age verification system.

Users will need to provide ID, either in the form of credit cards, driver’s licences, or special cards purchased from shops.

Where is your other hand (Getty)

The ban on under-18s was approved as part of the Digital Economy Act last year, but the British Board of Film Censors had to come up with a system to verify

There’s likely to be several companies offering age verification systems, with 60,000 shops in Britain will offer Age Verification cards (based on shopkeeper’s assessment), which should be on offer before April.

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Users who attempt to access adult content will instead see a page asking for proof of age, which will redirect them to an age verification service.

‘Tokens’ proving that people are over 18 will be stored in internet browsers, allowing users to log in to sites (once they’ve proved they’re 18 and registered with an age verification system).