ONLINE SAFETY BILL REVIVED TO PROTECT AGAINST YOUNGSTERS ACCESSING PORN AS WELL AS ONLINE FINANCIAL AND HATE CRIMES

The Government has revised and revived its plans to make visitors to porn sites in the UK undertake age verification tests, which would require a valid credit card or passport to enable access.

The updated draft now applies to user-generated porn such as OnlyFans and is aimed at protecting youngsters from accessing hardcore pornography.

Digital Minister, Chris Philp, said it is too easy for children to access pornography online:

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“Parents deserve peace of mind that their children are protected online from seeing things no child should see,” he said. “We are now strengthening the online safety bill so it applies to all porn sites to ensure we achieve our aim of making the internet a safer place for children.”

The conservatives first announced the policy back on 2015 but ran into difficulties over concerns for privacy as well as implementing the technology, leading to it being abandoned until now.

The Online Safety Bill will now include people smuggling, hate crimes, fraud and revenge porn as ‘priority’ illegal content.

The worst offenders could receive jail sentences of up to five years for threatening to kill MPs and celebrities. 

Spreading Covid-19 disinformation would also be covered under a crime of sending a false communication.

It's estimated that up to a third of the country watches online pornography in some form, unfortunately this includes minors.

The new Bill will put the onus onto the tech companies to provide a duty of care, failure to comply would see them in breach of UK law and subject to prosecution.

The Government said this would remove the need for them to be set out in secondary legislation later on and allow Ofcom to act faster against firms that fail to remove it.

Digital Secretary, Mrs Dorries said:

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‘This government said it would legislate to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online while enshrining free speech, and that’s exactly what we are going to do.

‘We are listening to MPs, charities and campaigners who have wanted us to strengthen the legislation, and today’s changes mean we will be able to bring the full weight of the law against those who use the internet as a weapon to ruin people’s lives and do so quicker and more effectively.’

 ‘we will bring the full weight of the law against those who use the internet as a weapon to ruin people’s lives’.

 

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