Since July 25, the United Kingdom has been running large-scale age verification tests. All websites and online services hosting adult-only content must now ensure that minors cannot access their platforms, using services that estimate or prove that a user is over 18. In the first days after this new standard came into effect, there were around five million such age checks each day in the UK, according to figures from the Age Verification Providers Association (AVPA), the main lobby for this rapidly growing sector.

The legislation behind this requirement, the Online Safety Act, was passed in 2023 and primarily targets the adult entertainment industry – especially pornography, where users have long been able to access content by simply clicking on an honor statement. The issue of young people being exposed to adult content – both on social media and porn platforms – is very real: In France, 2.3 million minors visit pornographic sites every month, according to ARCOM (France's media and communications regulator). In the UK, Ofcom figures estimate that 8% of children aged 8 to 14 have accessed such sites.

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