This week it was announced that Ofcom had
fined Playboy £100,000 because it had offered hardcore pornographic films
online that could easily be accessed by children.
All that stood between children and
explicit content was a tick box in which the user confirmed they were over 18;
a system open to abuse from much younger children. More explicit material was available with
just a debit card despite the fact that such cards are readily available to
under-18s.
That Ofcom has fined Playboy for its failure
to protect children and is taking age verification seriously is excellent news.
Age verification is very important. Industry has a role to play in protecting
children and there are measures that can and should be taken to ensure this
happens.
The online gambling industry is a good
example of this; prior to 2005 there was plenty of evidence that children were
managing to gamble despite being under age.
The Gambling Act 2005 specifically regulated online gambling for the
first time and providers were required to verify the ages of their customers
by, for example, checking credit ratings and inclusion in the electoral
roll. This all but eradicated underage
online gambling and is a system that should be used to protect children in
other areas.
When last summer’s consultation into
protecting children online was launched the government was criticised for not
explicitly referring to age verification measures. The issue was raised in the House of Lords
second reading debate of Baroness Howe’s Online Safety Bill. Peers noted that age verification worked in
the case of online gambling and called for robust government action to ensure
that the industry acts on this responsibly.
They were particularly concerned that there is currently no level
platform of what is or isn’t acceptable as each provider works on their own.
This was summed up in the speech by Lord
Bishop of Norwich
who said “…we
are very protective of the bodies of the young, with the exception of the eyes.”
As a result of this debate the Prime
Minister has specifically addressed the issue.
Announcing the appointment of Claire Perry MP as his advisor on
reversing the sexualistion of childhood he said “…providers need to work to
verify the age of the person…”, Mrs Perry added “…if you have proper age
verification systems, then I think this new system will put us a long way ahead
of the rest of the world.”
We have raised the issue of ineffective age verification in the past – particularly in relation to video-on-demand broadcasts. This new ruling from Ofcom sends a clear message that providers can no longer hide behind crude and outdated verification methods.
There will very likely be a cost
implication in introducing adequate protection but concerns about this cannot
be allowed to outweigh the introduction of meaningful measures to prevent damage
to children.
