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Australia Considers Porn Site Age Verification

By on March 6, 2020

Canberra, ACT – A parliamentary committee initiated by the Coalition will investigate how porn websites can verify Australians visiting their websites are over 18, in a move that looks similar to the troubled UK age verification system.

The chair of the committee, LNP MP Andrew Wallace, said in a statement announcing the inquiry that it was “concerning” that people accessing pornography online did not have to verify they were over 18.

“This is concerning, as research shows that accessing pornography negatively influences young peoples’ attitudes to sex, sexuality and relationships.”

The committee will examine how age verification works for online gambling websites, and see if that can be applied to porn sites.

Wallace noted that “appropriately classified” adult websites in Australia would not be the focus of the inquiry.

Australia’s strict classification regime would mean the vast majority of adult websites would be in the focus of this inquiry.

The committee has specifically been tasked to examine the UK’s version of this system, in the UK Digital Economy Act 2017.

Under the scheme, which is not yet in operation due to delays in its implementation, websites must carry out age verification, and those that refuse face being blocked from access by internet service providers in the UK.

The scheme has faced issues in its implementation, with the British government forced to exempt social media sites such as Twitter, Reddit and Imgur, which would otherwise be blocked for the adult content they host.

The policy was quickly dropped when news of the plan was reported just two days out from the election, despite the then junior shadow communications minister Paul Fletcher endorsing the policy at the time.
Full article here
Courtesy of Guardian News & Media Ltd

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