What is the UK porn ban, when does the age verification scheme start and which adults sites will be blocked?
You'll soon need to hand over personal info to get access to porn in the UK, but the scheme's launch date has been pushed back
GOVERNMENT plans to age-check anyone who wants to watch XXX videos online in the UK will begin around Christmas time at the earliest.
The age verification scheme was originally supposed to kick off on April 1, then was pushed back until June 15 – and has since been delayed again.
The plans were halted again due to an error within the UK government that meant the EU was not informed.
The scheme, which required all UK adults to prove they are over 18 by providing their ID to porn sites, was set to come into force on 15 July but former Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright has admitted that it is now delayed because of an "administrative oversight".
Matt Kilcoyne, head of communications at the Adam Smith Institute think tank, said: "This is the third time the government has delayed the introduction of their porn laws, they should admit they got it wrong and drop them altogether.
"Young people could bypass the block using a VPN, while non-tech savvy folk would be put at higher risk of credit card fraud. The next Tory leader should remind nannying bureaucrats that the government has no business in the affairs of the bedroom."
The delay comes after experts branded the ID checks a “privacy timebomb” for 20 million Brits.
Sky News reported that the issue with the policy was bureaucratic, rather than technical.
Officials from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) reportedly failed to notify the European commission about key details of the scheme.
The Government is forcing porn sites to ask Brits for ID to prove they're older than 18.
You'll only be able to access those sites if you sign up to an age verification scheme.
This means potentially handing over personal details, and even sensitive documents like your driving licence or passport.
The goal is to stop youngsters accessing dodgy x-rated websites.
Adult filmmaker Erika Lust said: “They’re going to watch it anyway. Young people are clever.
"They want to find out more about sex; they will find their ways around it.”
The Open Rights Group's Myles Jackman called the delay a "temporary victory for privacy and security to ensure pornography isn't the canary in the coal mine of free speech".
It's all part of last year's Digital Economy Act, which (in part) aims to protect children from accidentally viewing adult material online.
The Government will force porn sites to verify the age of anyone attempting to view dodgy content.
If you can't (or won't) verify your age, you'll be blocked from getting onto the adult websites.
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) – a film regulator – has been enlisted to oversee the project.
Britain's movie-rating regulator, the BBFC, has been appointed to oversee this process, and can impose penalties on sites that don't comply.
And this includes blocking Brits from accessing a website altogether.
"If a service is non-compliant because they don't have effective age-verification or they are providing extreme pornography, the BBFC has a number of enforcement powers," the porn watchdog explained.
Penalties include asking search engines and social media to stop linking out to "non-compliant" porn sites.
It also includes asking payment providers to "withdraw their services" from the sites.
And lastly, the BBFC can "instruct internet service providers to block them" completely for all Brits – including adults.
"The BBFC will issue preliminary notifications to a non-compliant site before taking any enforcement action against them," the BBFC explained.
"After this, we can choose the most effective course of enforcement action on a case-by-case basis.
"Blocking a site is not the BBFC's objective and it's important that we allow enough time for a non-compliant site to comply.
"Where blocking becomes necessary, this will be carried out in the shortest time possible."
The controversial scheme has received plenty of criticism from internet rights organisations.
In a statement last year, the Open Rights Group's Jim Killock said: "The BBFC will struggle to ensure that age verification is safe, secure and anonymous.
"They are powerless to ensure people's privacy.
"The major publisher, MindGeek, looks like it will dominate the AV market. We are very worried about their product, AgeID, which could track people's porn use.
The way this product develops is completely out of BBFC's hands.
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"Users will not be able to choose how to access websites. They'll be at the mercy of porn companies."
Do you think the Government is right to age-check porn users in the UK? Let us know in the comments.
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