The UK's online age verification checks for would-be viewers of pornography look set to be delayed again. This is just the latest delay in the government's morality project which it boasted would make the UK "the safest place in the world to be online," once we had implemented the system. Compulsory checks were supposed to be in place by April 2018, then April 2019, and the latest 'strong and stable' date put forward was 15th July - less than a month from now.
Old news
As noted by the BBC, the government has not yet announced this further delay - but it is expected to announce it today in parliament. In a Sky News report, we get a bit more background. We know about this announcement in advance because the regulator, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) was told about it yesterday afternoon.
Indefinite delay
Sky's sources say that the delay announced today will be indefinite. The reasons behind the delay are technical according to Sky's sources, rather than being bureaucratic (or political?). Nevertheless, the age check scheme had drawn the wrath of privacy campaigners on one side, and others who thought it would be a technically ineffectual waste of time and resources.
If it were to be implemented as it stood, sites with more than two thirds of their content classified as not-pornography-based would sidestep the requirement for verifications, and nothing would prevent would-be porn-peekers from simply using a VPN to avoid the system all-together. After introduction, determined porn viewers would surely have found and shared other loopholes too - avoiding the last resort of the Grattan catalogue lingerie section.
Do HEXUS readers think there a lesson for the government here? I think it depends whether today's delay is indefinite, and if we can be sure whether it really is delayed for technical reasons rather than anything else. I will update with a link to the official statement from the government's culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, this afternoon.
