Government drops controversial ‘porn blocker’ plan

The government has dropped a plan to use strict age verification checks to stop under-18s viewing porn online.

It said the policy, which was initially set to launch in April 2018, would “not be commencing” after repeated delays, and fears it would not work.

The so-called porn blocker would have forced commercial porn providers to verify users’ ages, or face a UK ban.

Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan said other measures would be deployed to achieve the same objectives.

The government first mooted the idea of a porn blocker in 2015, with the aim of stopping youngsters “stumbling across” inappropriate content.

Pornographic sites which failed to check the age of UK visitors would have faced being blocked by internet service providers.

• Government error hits porn age-check plan
• UK to introduce porn age-checks in July

But critics warned that many under-18s would have found it relatively easy to bypass the restriction, or could simply turn to porn-hosting platforms not covered by the law.

Likewise, platforms which hosted pornography on a non-commercial basis – meaning they did not charge a fee or make money from adverts – would not have been affected.

In a written statement issued on Wednesday, Ms Morgan said the government would not be “commencing Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act 2017 concerning age verification for online pornography”.

Instead, she said, porn providers would be expected to meet a new “duty of care” to improve online safety. This will be policed by a new online regulator “with strong enforcement powers to deal with non-compliance”.

“This course of action will give the regulator discretion on the most effective means for companies to meet their duty of care,” she added.

In June, the porn blocker was delayed a second time after the government failed to tell European regulators about the plan, leading Labour to describe the policy as an “utter shambles”.