In news sure to be a relief to viewers, ISPs, and the whole of the adult industry; the government has finally announced today that the controversial UK ‘porn ban’ has been scrapped.
The proposed scheme meant that no UK porn users would have been able to access online adult content without first undergoing age verification checks. The plans had already prompted protests by campaigners concerned that it could enable widespread tracking of the identity and browsing habits of porn watchers, potentially creating opportunities for online surveillance and blackmail – leading to the BBFC introducing the certification scheme for data protection.
The Act underwent several amendments and was intended to come into effect on 15th July 2019, undergoing a six month delay until today’s announcement that the plans ‘will not be commencing’.
Digital secretary Nicky Morgan released a written statement to Parliament, detailing the government’s plans to channel its efforts into its new online harms regulation instead, which hopes to address issues raised by children accessing pornographic websites: “The government has concluded that this objective of coherence will be best achieved through our wider online harms proposals and, as a consequence, will not be commencing Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 concerning age verification for online pornography. The Digital Economy Act objectives will therefore be delivered through our proposed online harms regulatory regime. This course of action will give the regulator discretion on the most effective means for companies to meet their duty of care.”
