The UK ready to clamp down on porn

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May 19, 2016 | The Biz

The UK ready to clamp down on porn

The British government has revealed that watching porn online is about to get a lot, um, harder. New rules were revealed in yesterday's Queen's Speech which revealed details of a new Digital Economy Bill.

The proposed law is targeted any sites viewable in the UK and not just UK-based. (Good luck with that.) It will affect both free and pay sites.

To prove a customer is of legal age, websites will likely have to request a user's credit card information. Gambling sites, which are already subject to similar legislation, do this.

According to notes attached to the bill, a "yes, I'm 18" check box is not enough.

The government insisted this was part of its attempt to create a "family friendly" Internet free from pornography, gambling and extreme violence.

For a couple years now, Internet service providers (ISPs) in the UK have been pressured by the government to include porn filters for all customers; consumers would then have to request that the filter be removed. The UK government has not yet made this a legal requirement.

“This is the state, yet again, intervening in people’s private lives for no reason other than good old British prurience and control-freakery,” wrote Jerry Barnett of the Sex and Censorship blog.

"This is cutting-edge censorship,” added Myles Jackman, a lawyer who deals with obscenity law. “We are now becoming the world leaders in censorship. And we are being watched very closely from abroad.”

Right, like anything is going to stop people from getting their fill of porn! Dream on, Prime Minister.

Queen's Speech forces porn sites to verify users' ages in Tory crackdown to protect children [The Mirror]

Age checks for porn sites in Queen's Speech [BBC News]

Tough new online porn restrictions are coming to the UK, Queen confirms [The Express]

And it's not just full on porn sites being targeted, but any site with "adult content."