Last Updated: January 25, 2023, 12:59 PM IST
Rishi Sunak took over as the UK PM after his predecessor, and one-time rival, Liz Truss was forced from power in October. (File photo/Reuters)
The Online Safety Bill, designed to protect children while using the internet, is set to begin its passage through the House of Lords on Monday
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing a fresh rebellion from members of his Conservative Party who are calling for tougher legislation so that websites are forced to introduce more robust age checks to stop children from accessing pornography.
A series of amendments have been drafted for the Online Safety Bill, which will propose that all porn websites must implement age verification systems within six months, Bloomberg reported.
The legislation is the latest demand from Conservative MPs, who earlier pushed forward a demand that tech bosses could be jailed if their platforms repeatedly fail to protect children from online harm.
The Online Safety Bill, designed to protect children while using the internet, is set to begin its passage through the House of Lords on Monday.
Around 50 Conservative lawmakers and the main opposition party have said that they would support the amendment to toughen the Online Safety Bill.
The new amendments will demand that adults prove that they are over 18 years of age by using stringent forms of age verification used for online gambling, which includes uploading an ID card or credit card details.
The verification can be done via a third-party tool to ensure that the user identity is not directly linked to the porn site, to protect privacy.
Other measures for age verification, include using software that predicts someone’s age by analysing their face via a webcam or phone camera, where it is not required to identify documents.
This is the third time that Sunak, who has a majority of 67, has backed down after similar revolts in the parliament even since he assumed power in October. Earlier, he gave in after rebellions on housing targets and restrictions on onshore wind farms.
UK, like the European Union and several other countries, has been grappling to protect social media users, especially children, from harmful content without damaging free speech.
The report added that this isn’t the first time policymakers have tried to introduce age restrictions for adult sites. The Digital Economy Act of 2017 had age verification provisions, however, they were dropped by the government before being implemented.
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