UK porn block – digital minister Margot James ‘extremely sorry’ for 6-month delay after government forgot to tell EU
THE Government has today apologised for the six-month porn block delay after officials forgot to tell the EU.
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 today.
But the controversial plan was pushed back by six months after an error meant the EU was not informed.
And Digital Minister Margot James today said she was “extremely sorry” about the delay.
She told the : "I'm extremely sorry that there has been a delay.
“I know it sounds incompetent."
She added: "Mistakes do happen, and I'm terribly sorry that it happened in such an important area."
Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright last month admitted the move was being 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 came after experts branded the ID checks a “privacy timebomb” for 20million 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.
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The age block would be the first of its kind anywhere in the democratic world.
It would restrict access to adult websites, including free porn sites like PornHub and YouPorn – which attract nearly two billion visits a month between them worldwide.
Websites that refuse to implement the checks face being blocked by UK internet service providers or having their access to payment services withdrawn.
The Sun understands that adult websites are set to be given a grace period of three months to begin enforcing the new rules.
The scheme forms part of the Digital Economy Act 2017, and is aimed at preventing children from accidentally finding extreme porn online.
FAILURE TO LAUNCH
The block was originally expected to come into force back in April 2018, but was pushed back to December that same year.
The Government then pushed the launch back again, with the expectation that it would come into force in early April – before Easter.
In 2018, Ms James said that "we can expect it to be in force by Easter of next year".
"It has taken longer than I would have liked, but I'd balance that with a confidence that we've got it right."
Campaigners have voiced concerns that the age verification restrictions could become a data protection nightmare.
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The Open Rights Group, a company working to preserve digital rights and freedoms, called the ID checks a “privacy timebomb”.
Director Jim Killock told the Independent: "Due to the sensitive nature of age verification data, there needs to be a higher standard of protection than the baseline which is offered by data protection legislation."
He added: "The BBFC’s standard is supposed to deliver this.
"However, it is a voluntary standard, which offers little information about the level of data protection being offered and provides no means of redress if companies fail to live up to it."
