UK will ban pornographic sites for minors under 18: details, exceptions and controversy

Enter a bad site and clicking a button that says "I'm over 18" is a very simple action and an ineffective mechanism for verifying the veracity of this manifestation. The British authorities propose an alternative: they will enter into force by the middle of the current year. measures to ensure that minors can not access pages containing badgraphic content.

The restriction, which will come into force on July 15 of the current year, contains exceptions and gray areas. Therefore, this is not immune to controversy and criticism.

More rigorous checks … with qualifications

As reported by the British media The Guardian, from the date indicated above badgraphy providers online they must apply solid checks to check the age of users who want to access these platforms.

This measure was announced in the UK a few weeks ago to prevent children from accessing adult content. Now they report the obligation. As, the the sites who refuse to implement these screening measures will be subject to sanctions, as the blockade by the ISPs in this country.

"Currently, children can access too easily adult content on the Internet.The introduction of mandatory age verification is paramount (…) In our case, We balance concerns about privacy with the need to protect minors from inappropriate contentSaid Margot James, UK Digital Minister.

As we expect, the movement has exceptions. On the one hand, only applies to commercial badgraphic sites. That is, those who earn money with their activities, for example those that include ads or subscription models. In this sense, a non-commercial badgraphic website will not be required to include age verification.

On the other hand, the British authorities had to exempt social networks like Twitter, Reddit or Imgur of this measure, even if they will publish bad, for fear the reproaches to censorship that would arise before the possible blockade of these platforms. To regulate this exception, they emphasize that the mandatory character does not apply to environments in which badgraphy is not the main content.

A ministry spokesman who leads Jones said at the BBC"We know that badgraphy is available on some social networks and we hope that these platforms will do much more to create a safer environment for children." If we do not see action, we do not rule out legislating in the future to compel companies to take responsibility for protecting vulnerable users potentially dangerous content they host ".

Moreover, this action does not concern access via private networks (VPN).

The above-mentioned source notes that the United Kingdom's decision is criticized by some groups defending the Privacy on the Internet. They point out that with these actions, the British government could create a database of badgraphy consumers.

"Government must force businesses to comply with confidentiality standards (…) Data leaks could be disastrous and if they happen, it will be the government's fault.. Therefore, they must regulate privacy before their own policy entails layoffs and career destruction, "said Jim Killock, executive director of Open Rights Group, a UK-based organization that works for the United States. preservation of digital rights and freedoms.

Bad step for privacy

In the face of privacy concerns, the British government's measure began with the left foot. The announcement was made by a department by email that revealed the contact details of 300 people.