18+ Porn block could come to Guernsey too

Friday 01 June 2018

UK legislation that will require age verification from those who want to access adult content on the internet could be approved in Guernsey by the end of the year, the Home Affairs' President has said.

Deputy Mary Lowe said officers in her committee were aware of planned UK changes, that will require the age verification, and were currently working with Jersey and local intenet providers to create a local plan.

In the UK, there are a number of ideas over how the age verification will be enforced. It could mean handing over email addresses or credit card details to access the adult websites, and ideas even include shops selling tickets with ID requirements that will give people codes to gain access.

Deputy Mary Lowe said: "Officers at the Committee for Home Affairs are aware of the planned UK legislation requiring age verification for internet pornography and are currently liaising closely with Jersey colleagues and consulting key stakeholders such as the local internet providers.

"It is anticipated that proposals to ensure Guernsey can offer the same protections  in relation to age verification as the UK will be presented to the Committee for Home Affairs in the coming months, with the expectation that the necessary legislation could be approved by the end of the year."

On the mainland, the enforcement itself was meant to orginally come into force in May, after the plans passed through parliament in 2016 and 2017, but the implementation was delayed at the last minute.

While the main positives focus on protecting children from the adult content, security concerns have also been raised about having too many people's data and information stored in one place.

The blocking itself will be the responsibility of the British Board of Film Classification - it will ask internet service providers and mobile network operators to block websites that don't comply with the new rules.

Although MindGeek, the largest online adult entertainment company, which owns sites such as Pornhub and Redtube and other production company's, has already introduced its own age verification service. 

One area that will not be affected is pornography on social media platforms, so they will not be subjected to the same requirements.