INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
"Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren't suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling," Ofcom said
"Now, children will be better protected from online material that's not appropriate for them, while adults' rights to access legal content
We expect other companies to follow suit, or face enforcement if they fail to act."Ofcom said online platforms that fall under the law "must
use highly effective age assurance to identify which users are children, to protect them from harmful material, while preserving adults'
rights to access legal content
That may involve preventing children from accessing the entire site or app, or only some parts or kinds of content."Ofcom Group Director for
Online Safety Oliver Griffiths recently told the Daily Star that "if you're a dedicated teenager, you're probably going to be able to find
ways to get [around this] in the same way as people manage to find their way in the pub to buy alcohol at under 18." But he indicated that
the law should prevent many kids from "stumbling across porn," and that "this is very much a first step."In the US, individual states have
been imposing age laws on porn websites
The US Supreme Court recently upheld a Texas law that requires age verification on porn sites, finding that the state's age-gating law
doesn't violate the First Amendment
A dissent written by Justice Elena Kagan described the law's ID requirement as a deterrent to exercising one's First Amendment rights,
saying that "Texas's law defines speech by content and tells people entitled to view that speech that they must incur a cost to do so."While
the Texas law applies to websites in which more than one-third of the content is sexual material, the UK law's age provisions apply more
broadly to social media websites
Reddit's announcement of its UK restrictions said the company expects it will have to verify user ages in other countries."As laws change,
we may need to collect and/or verify age in places other than the UK," Reddit said
"Accordingly, we are also introducing globally an option for you to provide your birthdate to optimize your Reddit experience, for example
to help ensure that content and ads are age-appropriate
This is optional, and you won't be required to provide it unless you live in a place (like the UK) where we are required to ask for