US state forces porn websites to ask users for ID

People who want to visit pornographic websites in the US state of Louisiana must now provide legal proof they are over 18.

Any porn sites that do not check users are adults can now be sued in the state.

The legislation, which has been criticised by internet privacy campaigners, came into force this week after being introduced last year by Republican Laurie Schlegel.

“Online pornography is extreme and graphic and only one click away from our children,” she said on Twitter.

“This is not your daddy’s Playboy.

“And if pornography companies refuse to be responsible, then we must hold them accountable.”

The legislation has pushed major pornography websites to adopt Louisiana’s LA Wallet system, which allows the state’s residents to hold a digital driving licence or ID card.

It includes a mandate that user information is not retained in an attempt to alleviate privacy concerns.

The Louisiana bill may offer a hint towards how the UK’s long-awaited Online Safety Bill will attempt to protect children from adult content.

The proposed law – which aims to regulate online content to help keep users safe, especially children, and to make companies responsible for the material – will make companies use age-checking measures to protect under-18s from accessing pornographic content.

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Law ‘must consider right to privacy’

The NSPCC told Sky News that communications regulator Ofcom should be given the power to enforce minimum standards for age assurance, balancing the protection of children with an adult’s right to privacy.

“Watching pornography at a young age can have a detrimental impact on a children’s understanding of sex, consent and healthy relationships,” they said.

“That’s why it’s so important that we have an Online Safety Bill which compels online pornography sites to roll out effective age assurance measures that provide the highest level of confidence about a user’s age whilst also taking into consideration adults’ right to privacy.”

Critics have cast doubt on the practicalities of age verification on adult websites.

Richard De Vere, an online security expert, told Sky News it was the result of politicians seeking “simple solutions to quite complex problems”.

“We’ve not really tackled the core issue here, which is proper authentication,” he said.

“Even if we trusted that the data would be looked after, how can we trust that it’s being used by myself and not my daughter or someone like that?

“The government would need to go house to house, taking people’s irises and fingerprints.”

He added: “To go forward we have to go back to some old-fashioned values – good guidance, counsel for your kids, moral training and ethics. The internet’s a horrible place with some terrible things, but with good education you can navigate it safely.”

Homemade porn an ‘additional challenge’

Charlotte Aynsley, safeguarding lead for school safety software firm Impero, told Sky News that age verification on adult websites was a long time coming, but that more needed to be done.

“It has been discussed since 2017, when it was first introduced by David Cameron – in fact, it was supposed to be included in the Digital Economy Act 2017, but it was never enforced,” she said.

“However, there is an additional challenge around self-generated porn content, as a lot of content does not only sit on commercial porn sites.

“The majority of porn online is user-generated, can be viewed on sites like Twitter and TikTok, or is shared on a personal basis between individuals, and so it will still be accessible even with age verification.”

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