Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will bring forward legislative proposals to require websites to verify that every person featured in pornographic content on their platform (a) is an adult and (b) gave their permission for the content to be published on that platform.

Any material featuring the sexual exploitation and abuse of children is captured by the criminal law. The Online Safety Act, which received Royal Assent on 26 October, requires in-scope services to put in place proactive, preventative measures to limit people’s exposure to child sexual exploitation and abuse content and remove it expeditiously. The Act will also bring in a new offence for intimate image abuse, which will criminalise the sharing of intimate images or films without consent.

Additionally, the government has committed to undertaking a review of pornography legislation, regulation and enforcement, which will assess whether the regulation of online pornography in the UK is fit for purpose in tackling exploitation and abuse.