The Student Room Group

UK plans age verification to watch porn

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VPN it is then
Reply 21
I like this idea, effectively it’ll stop anyone under 16. If you have the intelligence to use a VPN/bypass it then you’re old enough, it won’t be effective in the 16-18 bracket but certainly will stop most curious under 15s and all under 12s which I think is good.

Not sure if giving away credit card info is a good idea though.. could easily be scammed. The government will need to build an index of trusted sites to protect people from fraud.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by zayn008
I like this idea, effectively it’ll stop anyone under 16. If you have the intelligence to use a VPN/bypass it then you’re old enough, it won’t be effective in the 16-18 bracket but certainly will stop most curious under 15s and all under 12s which I think is good.

Not sure if giving away credit card info is a good idea though.. could easily be scammed. The government will need to build an index of trusted sites to protect people from fraud.


A simple bypass is just using "non-porn" sites. Like VK (pretty much Russian Facebook), filled with porn and gets round content blockers on parental controls.
Reply 23
Original post by Meany Pie
A simple bypass is just using "non-porn" sites. Like VK (pretty much Russian Facebook), filled with porn and gets round content blockers on parental controls.


I use VK for pirating some music, books and magazines lol never knew it had porn though.

Guess they can’t stop that but most kids won’t bother, I do think it’s a serious issue and I think no one under 13 should be viewing it, ideally 15/16.
Why do they waste their time? Surely the Government has better things to do than to fail to prevent something that doesn't need to be prevented.
Reply 25
If they ban porn they'll probably just be doing me a favour tbh. Go for it.
Original post by zayn008
I use VK for pirating some music, books and magazines lol never knew it had porn though.

Guess they can’t stop that but most kids won’t bother, I do think it’s a serious issue and I think no one under 13 should be viewing it, ideally 15/16.


Tons of porn, we used it in uni halls to bypass their stupid porn block.

I don't think it is that big a problem.
Original post by Dominoes
as a porn addict and on a100 day streak and on a 2.5 years year journey on no fap fapastronaut i can say thank **** for that. wish i never ever saw any of it. hope kids avoid it too


Porn is like a lot of other activities. Would you be in favour of banning video games and alcohol as well then?

I think it's up to the person to control themselves and not end up addicted.
Original post by TimmonaPortella
I'm against this too but this trend of comparing everything to the arms trade is so stupid and tiresome.


It's really not. It shows this government's moral compass and priorities perfectly.
Reply 29
Original post by _gcx
Why do they waste their time? Surely the Government has better things to do than to fail to prevent something that doesn't need to be prevented.


I guess they really don't have anything better to do.
Original post by Wikia
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40628909

Honestly, this is pretty scary. I'm guessing this comes with the new Investigatory Powers Act they released last year but it's also something that's potentially pretty dangerous. If this was to go through - which inevitably seems like it will - and you're forced to provide verification (credit card details or whatever) this same information could easily be used against you. I mean I certainly wouldn't see it as being uncommon if this was to happen, whether it's by the government or by potential breaches of the site - which would then only result in information of users being leaked. It really does seem like an invasion of privacy, one that I don't think was at all necessary.

'Companies breaking the rules set out in the Digital Economy Act face being blocked by their internet provider.' The fact that even now they can control what sites we can/cannot access (I know this has already been happening, yet it's still pretty amazing how nobody bats an eye at any of this, or the minimal amount of people who are made aware...)

I don't know, this is all kind of hard to comprehend. It feels like the first step to an Orwellian society.


It was rushed through as a separate piece of legislation just before Parliament closed for the election.

They are supposed to be using independent verifiers for the card check, which then gives you a token you can use to access the porn site(s), but apparently it turns out that one of the so-called independent verifiers runs about 500 porn sites! So much for that bit.

I basically think this is a good idea, but it sounds as if (as usual) the government are trying to implement it on a cut price basis, by using dodgy private operators to run it, so the overall effect will be serious dangers in confidentiality. I suspect this may be the beginning of the end for online porn in the UK. Maybe that's a good thing overall.
Original post by _gcx
Why do they waste their time? Surely the Government has better things to do than to fail to prevent something that doesn't need to be prevented.


The stated purpose was to protect young children from porn and also from exploitation. Why is that 'wasting their time'? One of the main functions of government is to protect the vulnerable.
Original post by (づ ̄ ³ ̄)づ
So someone is going to be searching up porn sites and checking that they're following this potential new law?

Imagine that job title.


"Me, I'm a PPI."
Professional
Pornography
Investigator:u::u:

"Have-I-Got-PPI-.com"
Original post by cbreef
Porn is like a lot of other activities. Would you be in favour of banning video games and alcohol as well then?

I think it's up to the person to control themselves and not end up addicted.


nah kids under 18/16 not sure which should be no where near it. just ****s you up. wish i never saw the damn thing. ppl over do whatever they want.

also in my experience i don't think a handful of drunken episodes and call of duty, gta etc games messed me up under 16 didn't turn me into an alcoholic and game addict and violent. but with porn i became addicted
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Zargabaath
It's really not. It shows this government's moral compass and priorities perfectly.


It really doesn't. The issues have absolutely nothing to do with one another. Saudi weapons sales are the new Godwin's Law.

Let alone that it's a fad issue in the first place. Few people who complain about it have really thought about what would be achieved by stopping UK arms dealers from making those sales (probably nothing other than job losses), let alone the big picture diplomacy involved.
It is not the job of government to police who is and is not allowed to look at porn on the internet, especially not from the party that likes to portray itself as the "unobtrusive small government" party. Stupid moralistic nanny state attitudes like this should have died out years ago.

To be honest, I'm more worried that this is just another step towards full on internet censorship. Start with porn and terrorism to make it hard for anyone to oppose it and speak out against it (and unfortunately it seems to be working), and when those powers are established it gets extended to "extreme" or "unacceptable" content which could very easily include political and current affairs content.
Original post by RF_PineMarten
It is not the job of government to police who is and is not allowed to look at porn on the internet, especially not from the party that likes to portray itself as the "unobtrusive small government" party. Stupid moralistic nanny state attitudes like this should have died out years ago.

To be honest, I'm more worried that this is just another step towards full on internet censorship. Start with porn and terrorism to make it hard for anyone to oppose it and speak out against it (and unfortunately it seems to be working), and when those powers are established it gets extended to "extreme" or "unacceptable" content which could very easily include political and current affairs content.


Agreed, you can definitely see how this is the beginning of a very slippery slope. Ironic therefore it comes from the party who has often espoused the small state mantra.
Original post by Fullofsurprises
It was rushed through as a separate piece of legislation just before Parliament closed for the election.

They are supposed to be using independent verifiers for the card check, which then gives you a token you can use to access the porn site(s), but apparently it turns out that one of the so-called independent verifiers runs about 500 porn sites! So much for that bit.

I basically think this is a good idea, but it sounds as if (as usual) the government are trying to implement it on a cut price basis, by using dodgy private operators to run it, so the overall effect will be serious dangers in confidentiality. I suspect this may be the beginning of the end for online porn in the UK. Maybe that's a good thing overall.


You've gone all puritan of late, found God or something?
Original post by баребу́х
You've gone all puritan of late, found God or something?


No, but protecting children from porn is not being puritanical, it's being intelligent. There's nothing rational, in religion or outside it, in making hardcore freely available to young kids.
Original post by RF_PineMarten
It is not the job of government to police who is and is not allowed to look at porn on the internet, especially not from the party that likes to portray itself as the "unobtrusive small government" party. Stupid moralistic nanny state attitudes like this should have died out years ago.

To be honest, I'm more worried that this is just another step towards full on internet censorship. Start with porn and terrorism to make it hard for anyone to oppose it and speak out against it (and unfortunately it seems to be working), and when those powers are established it gets extended to "extreme" or "unacceptable" content which could very easily include political and current affairs content.


Why isn't it? We're not talking about adults here. The legislation is aimed at the protection of minors.

This is what I can't stand about libertarians - they think that everyone should be exposed to anything because they want to be.

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