In a bid to shield children from explicit content on the internet, the United Kingdom has introduced new age-check guidance, featuring the innovative use of AI technology to assess if a viewer appears to be of legal age. This development is in line with the recently enacted Online Safety Act, which mandates that websites and apps displaying or publishing pornographic material take measures to prevent children from accessing such content. The legal age for watching pornography in Britain is set at 18 and above.

Statistics from a 2021-2022 study by the Office of the Children's Commissioner for England underscore the urgency of such safeguards. On average, children first encounter online pornography at the age of 13, with nearly a quarter stumbling upon it by age 11, and an alarming one in 10 as young as 9. Melanie Dawes, CEO of media regulator Ofcom, emphasized the need for all services to provide robust protection for children while also respecting the privacy rights of adults to access legal content.

Ofcom's suggested approach involves facial age estimation utilizing AI to analyze a viewer's features, potentially requiring users to upload a selfie for verification. The proposed guidance also includes alternative methods such as photo identification matching, credit card checks, and even open banking, allowing users to consent to their bank sharing information with online porn sites for age confirmation. However, concerns have been raised by the Institute of Economic Affairs, a free-market think tank, regarding potential threats to user privacy through mandatory age verification.

As the regulatory framework takes shape, Ofcom outlined that less stringent methods, like self-declaration of age, certain online payment methods, and disclaimers or warnings, would no longer meet the standards laid out in the new guidance. The final guidance from Ofcom is expected to be published in early 2025, marking a significant step in leveraging technology to strike a balance between protecting minors and preserving the privacy rights of adults in the digital age.