“Cut out porn?” The Australian government is answering that question by considering imposing restrictions on underage viewing of porn. This means that those visiting porn sites will have to verify their age before they can watch the videos.
More specifically, according to a study by the Australian House of Representatives, the ever-increasing use of technology, including apps, tablets and various other devices, has affected young children, even under 10 years old, to an alarming extent, as a result of which they seek to watch hard and forbidden content. The study on age verification on online betting and pornography sites has proposed a number of measures to combat this trend. These measures include the implementation of age verification measures to stop children and teenagers from accessing adult material. Age verification on pornography sites is based on a model first implemented in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom proposed that users visiting pornography sites prove that they were 18 years of age or older. However, the government stopped implementing this plan in October 2019 due to significant technical issues.
The Australian report said three critical issues needed to be addressed to achieve what the UK plan failed to achieve. These included ensuring a level playing field, verifying the age of visitors and raising public awareness of the need verification . The report also found that a third of parents with children aged between 2 and 17 were concerned about viewing or being exposed to porn.
Children's charity eChildhood said a third of pupils aged 8 and under had tried to access online porn in the last six months, with pop-up ads online directing children to porn sites.
The charity's director,Tamara Newlands, said changes in technology had meant children had easy and unrestricted access to pornography. Specifically, 28% of children aged 11 to 12 had seen pornography online, while for children aged 15 to 16, the figure had risen to 65%.
