Over 50 porn websites found with no age verification despite new online child protection law

The new law came into effect on Friday 

Since the Online Safety Act 2023 came into effect on Friday (25 July), any social media sites or webpages that showcases 18-plus content— like pornography — are now legally obliged to ensure that only those aged-over-18 can access their pages.  

This should be done via either open banking, photo-ID matching, facial age estimation, mobile-network operator age checks, or digital ID services to mandate site access.

Sites who ignore the rule, risk having to pay fines of up to £18 million or 10% of their global revenue. 

However, despite the act now being in force across the UK, not every website is following the new rules. 

As exclusively revealed by LBC, among the dozens of sites to be in breach of new regulations was Pornhub.

The adult site — used by more than 10 million British people every year — has put very little in place to prevent children from accessing explicit content. 

Users simply needed to enter an email address or phone number before being handed access to the site.

Of the other 49 sites seen by LBC, many provided easy-access to BDSM content which has been connected by experts to increased levels of sexual violence against young girls. 

The inaction of those sites to implement safety checks has been condemned by a women’s mental health charity. 

The CEO of The Molly Rose Foundation — set up in memory of a 14-year-old who died by suicide following exposure to harmful online content — told LBC: “Unless the regulator is quick to take action, it sends a terrible message to the rest of the industry.

“It’s a crucial early test for Ofcom and they can’t flunk it.”