Porn block could be extended to the Channel Islands

Tuesday 07 May 2019

Guernsey may see a controversial piece of legislation extended to the islands through an Order in Council, without the law passing through the States.

Age-verification checks for free online pornographic material were announced in the UK last month, launching on certain websites on 15 July.

The scheme will mean that adults wishing to view the content may have to enter personal identification documents in order to do so. Non-compliant websites will be fined by the British Board of Film Classification or be subject to a blanket block across all relevant jurisdictions.

That has angered some groups like the Open Rights Group which has called the law “dangerous and irresponsible” because of what it deems data protection implications. 

It is an aspect of the Digital Economy Act which came into force in 2017 and has faced many setbacks in its implementation. When it was voted through it was purported that the law would help prevent children accidentally viewing inappropriate content although its critics say it can be easily circumvented. 

Age Verification comes into force from the 15th July.
This new approach is the first of its kind in the world, and puts in place the same protections that exist offline. Find out what this means for you https://t.co/kQazDP5Wny pic.twitter.com/N23QXYCOOt

— DCMS (@DCMS) April 17, 2019

There is currently no equivalent legislation in place in Guernsey but a spokesperson from the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said:

“The UK Government is working closely with the Crown Dependencies to make the necessary arrangements for the extension of this legislation to the Channel Islands."

Section 119(10) of the Digital Economy Act 2017 states that Section 14 (i.e. age verification for online pornography) may be extended by Order in Council to the Channel Islands. An Order in Council allows the UK to see law implemented by extension.

Chief Secretary of Home Affairs Adrian Lewis said at this point the committee was ‘considering’ implementing the legislation and will speak to stakeholders initially. 

“The UK plans to introduce legislation to introduce an age verification regime aimed at protecting children from exposure to internet pornography.  

“The UK legislation means that all providers of online commercial pornographic services accessible from the UK will be required to carry age-verification controls. 

“The Committee is considering the introduction of proposals to ensure Guernsey can offer the same protection in relation to age verification as the UK and Officers at the Committee have commenced engagement with stakeholders, such as local internet providers and will consult further as proposals are developed,” he said. 

It could also be the case that in the event Guernsey does not pass equivalent legislation our IP addresses could be automatically included with UK addresses regardless. 

Open Rights Group - “Dangerous and irresponsible” age verification goes aheadhttps://t.co/5aGGVErBZE

— Mark (@sirmlivesey) April 17, 2019

“Local people may get caught up in the checks the UK will be enforcing, depending on how the internet service providers locally route to the internet,” said Emma Martins, Data Protection Commissioner. 

“But [we are] not clear on the likelihood of that, as far as the Google Store and Apple I-Tunes are concerned they mark our location as not part of the UK.

“There are obviously data privacy issues with this, depending on how the age verification is being carried out,” she said. 

Customers can also present identification in shops which will enable them to purchase a card which can be redeemed online to view content as of 15 July.

The PortesCard will be available for £4.99 and will give a single device access to restricted websites.