On Tuesday, the Spanish Government approved a road map to put an end to the access of minors to internet porn pages, something that, so far, no country that has tried has succeeded. No one has found a system that does not face the main pitfalls: not compromising the privacy of users who consume this type of content and overcoming technical complexity. On the other hand, the most drastic solution, censoring this type of page – blocking access for all its citizens – would put European democracies on par with China, a risk that no one is willing to take. Also, it would be a bad solution as anyone with a VPN installed on their device, pretending to be connecting from a country where access to online pornography is not banned, could bypass this censorship . In fact, any age verification system that is implemented must provide for this possibility to be 100% effective.
Another problem is that all the initiatives that have been proposed do not take into account the pornographic content generated by the users themselves, for example, on social networks. For this reason, the solution presented in Spain is not only valid for porn websites, but also to prevent small children from entering social networks, whose minimum age is set at 14 years.
UNITED KINGDOM. The first declarations of intention by the British Government to oblige porn sites to verify the age of users date back to 2015. At that time, a system was considered that would count, with the help of internet providers, to buy a verification document of age at a kiosk or with the help of banks through credit cards, which was already used to control access to betting houses. Finally, in October 2019, the British Secretary of Culture, Nicky Morgan, announced that this idea was being abandoned in the face of technical difficulties – the chosen system was easily avoidable – and the criticisms of online privacy defenders.
In February 2022, the Minister of Culture announced a new attempt and at the end of 2023 the Online Security Law was approved, which includes the obligation of porn sites to verify the age of users, which the Spanish model also does , under the threat of financial sanctions of up to 10% of its global turnover. At the same time, the UK’s independent telecoms regulator, Ofcom, was launching up to six different methods for this purpose. Among them, again, resort to banking institutions, mobile networks and the use of credit cards, which in the United Kingdom can only be used by those over 18, always with the internet user’s consent. Some are more controversial, such as asking for identification through a recent photograph or using facial recognition systems to determine age.
FRANCE In November 2019, Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, gave pornography portals six months to implement some robust parental control system and, by default, to prevent children from accessing such content. Otherwise, he said, he would be forced to legislate on the matter. And this is what happened.
In February 2023, the Gallic Government announced a system similar to the Spanish one. Since September of that same year, in order to access online porn content, it would be necessary to download a mobile application that would contain a digital certificate in which the age of majority would be verified. When the user wanted to enter a porn page, he would be asked for a key, just as it happens with banking operations.
In October 2023, the National Assembly was still processing the law to secure the digital space, which was finally approved on the 17th of that month. This law gives Arcom, the French telecommunications regulator, the power to block sites that do not verify age without legal proceedings. In addition, it tasks this institution with the preparation of a “technical reference”, a concrete solution that allows the age of internet users to be verified and that protects personal data, of which nothing is yet known.
ITALYAlso in September 2023, it announced that it proposed to promote measures to prevent minors from accessing porn. Since November 21, parental controls have been applied to all SIM cards in the name of a minor, restricting access to porn websites, gambling websites and those showing violent content. The problem is that there are many minors who use a card in the name of their parents.
