Christian campaign group CARE has welcomed a new requirement, effective today, for age verification systems on pornographic websites accessed from the UK.
CARE has been campaigning for over a decade to introduce the measure as a means of protecting children online.
The group said that communications regulator Ofcom should be placed in charge of enforcement action against websites that fail to follow the new plans.
Tim Cairns, Online Safety Policy Lead at CARE, said the new requirements represented a “huge moment” that would give greater protection to young people.
“Porn use is linked to violent sexual crimes and sexual harassment in schools. Studies show it also has a harmful impact on relationships and mental health," he said. “This is a change that will give parents more confidence that their children will not stumble across porn accidently online, or be able to access it if they are under age.”
Cains went on to warn that proper enforcement would be key and that Ofcom should take swift action against any offenders as a deterrent to others who neglect to introduce the proper verification systems.
The extent of the problem of under-age pornography users is hard to gauge. Last month Ofcom published research which suggested that eight per cent of 8 to 14 year olds in the UK have been exposed to online pornography. The research conceded that this figure would likely have been higher if 15 to 17 year olds were included in their study.
A survey by the Children’s Commissioner suggested that 79 per cent of young people have seen some form of violent, coercive or degrading pornography by the time they reach the age of 18.
The same research suggested that 27 per cent of children have seen pornography by age 11, and 10 per cent by the age of nine. The average age for a child’s first encounter with online pornography is 13.
