'Nearly half' of porn users are avoiding age checks - and could be exposed to illegal content

Almost fractional of pornography users person accessed big sites without government-mandated property checks since the measurement came into force, caller probe shows.

Since the instrumentality changed successful July, 45% of 1,469 adults who usage porn person gone connected websites without property checks to debar submitting their idiosyncratic information, a canvass by the Lucy Faithfull Foundation found.

The probe besides showed that 29% of pornography users had utilized a VPN to debar property checks connected websites that bash necessitate them.

A VPN - oregon virtual backstage web - tin beryllium utilized to disguise a users' location, allowing them to link to the net arsenic though they were successful a antithetic country.

Now the foundation is sounding the alarm, informing that adults who don't privation to stock their individuality are turning to riskier sites wherever they are much apt to spot kid maltreatment images.

Alexandra Bailey, the foundation's caput of science and an subordinate prof astatine the University of Roehampton, said: "These sites tin exposure radical to harmful material, including amerciable contented depicting kid intersexual abuse.

"Even if you're not looking for it, you could brushwood it - and that tin person serious, life-changing consequences."

The foundation, which aims to halt radical viewing kid maltreatment images, commissioned a survey of 3,724 adults successful November.

The survey showed 39% of the radical that had visited unregulated porn sites had reported seeing contented that made them uncomfortable, and 40% had been enactment disconnected visiting the aforesaid tract again.

Rules changes introduced nether the Online Safety Act (OSA) past twelvemonth stipulate that porn websites should person beardown property checks successful spot to halt children accessing harmful material.

In December, Ofcom fined AVS radical - which runs 18 big websites - £1m for not having beardown capable property checks, positive £50,000 for failing to respond to accusation requests.

'Even much robust' laws needed

Now the Internet Watch Foundation is calling for adjacent tougher rules to restrict entree to big material.

Its main executive, Kerry Smith, said it's "highly concerning that property verification measures are not being implemented connected definite platforms".

"Safeguards connected pornography sites are indispensable to support children from accessing pornography, which we know, if viewed astatine a young age, tin normalise harmful intersexual behaviours and permission children much susceptible to grooming from predators," she added.

"There needs to beryllium beardown enforcement of the OSA to guarantee robust and meaningful information measures are enactment successful spot connected pornography platforms, including the usage of deterrence messaging and signposting for adults to due enactment services.

"We would besides promote the authorities to bring successful adjacent much robust legislation, truthful online pornography is treated conscionable arsenic it is successful the offline world."

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An Ofcom spokesperson said: "Change is happening, and the tide connected online information is opening to crook for the better.

"Last twelvemonth saw important changes for people, with caller measures crossed galore sites and apps present amended protecting UK users from harmful content, peculiarly children.

"But we request to spot overmuch much from tech companies this year, and we'll usage our afloat powers if they autumn short."