The UK Government does not do well when comes to trying to enforce age verification on the internet.
Age-verification for online pornography to begin in July – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (2019)
UK drops plans for online pornography age verification system | Internet | The Guardian (2019)
But of course in the draft Online Safety Bill the problem of age verification is back on the agenda. Here is an excellent article by Oliver Carter from Birmingham City University discussing why the section of the Government’s draft bill are flawed.
To quote Oliver’s article “There’s no question child safety online is critically important”, but these proposals are not the answer. Parents, guardians, family and society at whole need to be part of the solution – there is not one technologically fix.
Clive Catton MSc (Cyber Security) – by-line and other articles
Further Reading
Online Safety Bill articles (Smart Thinking Solutions)
Online Safety Bill publications – Parliamentary Bills – UK Parliament
Draft Online Safety Bill (Joint Committee) – Summary – Committees – UK Parliament
Draft Online Safety Bill – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Smart Thinking Solutions supports this UK Government initiative:
Let’s stop abuse together – Stop Abuse Together (campaign.gov.uk)
