It’s safe to say that the internet can often end up being a relatively dangerous place for children. There are all kinds of adult themed websites out there, and while many of these sites inform you that you can only look at their content if you are an adult, anyone can just click on the Yes option that confirms that they are of age. This means that children could very well look at adult content even if they are far too young to do so.
The UK has been trying to enact mandatory age verification for the purposes of accessing online content for about six to seven years now ever since the Conservative party introduced the legislation back in 2015. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that many have criticized this plan because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up causing a wide range of privacy violations.
Perhaps the single biggest issue that people tend to have about this plan is that it will give too much control to a single company. What’s more is that the government does not seem to have a good candidate in mind for who will be conducting the age verification process, with their go to pick apparently being the BFFC which is a censorship board that is owned and operated by the film industry rather than an objective third party.
There are countless things that are wrong with this bill, but it appears that the British government is trying to push ahead with it regardless. It was recently abandoned in 2019 after a few years of trying to get it off the ground, and it appears that the government is trying to bring it back despite the issues that they faced last time around. Some are criticizing this for being ineffectual and unhelpful, citing the countless other problems that the country is facing which many say that they should be focusing on instead of something that so many have said will not be workable at any point in the future.
Read next: Want to Become an Influencer? These Tips Can Help
The UK has been trying to enact mandatory age verification for the purposes of accessing online content for about six to seven years now ever since the Conservative party introduced the legislation back in 2015. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that many have criticized this plan because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up causing a wide range of privacy violations.
Perhaps the single biggest issue that people tend to have about this plan is that it will give too much control to a single company. What’s more is that the government does not seem to have a good candidate in mind for who will be conducting the age verification process, with their go to pick apparently being the BFFC which is a censorship board that is owned and operated by the film industry rather than an objective third party.
There are countless things that are wrong with this bill, but it appears that the British government is trying to push ahead with it regardless. It was recently abandoned in 2019 after a few years of trying to get it off the ground, and it appears that the government is trying to bring it back despite the issues that they faced last time around. Some are criticizing this for being ineffectual and unhelpful, citing the countless other problems that the country is facing which many say that they should be focusing on instead of something that so many have said will not be workable at any point in the future.
Read next: Want to Become an Influencer? These Tips Can Help