System would verify age to prevent access to online pornography
The UK government is considering introducing a “digital passport” system to help stop teenagers from being exposed to pornography on social media, according to a report in the Daily Telegraph. Margot James, Minister for Digital, said officials are exploring whether to issue every teenager with a unique online identity that would prevent them from accessing inappropriate content.
The UK is planning to introduce age restrictions on commercial pornography sites in March 2019, but that system wouldn’t encompass social media sites. “It is a weakness in the legislative solution,” Ms James told the Science and Technology Committee’s inquiry into the impact of social media. “It is well known that certain social media platforms that many people use regularly do have pornography freely available on their platform.”
However, a system of “digital passports” could be used to verify the ages of teenagers from the age of 13 upwards, and filter their access to social media. However, Ms James forecast it would take at least two years, with “considerable hoops to go through” to develop such a system, and win public support for giving individuals a verified ID.
For more details, see the article on the Daily Telegraph web site