Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department plans to regulate the sale of (a) magazines and (b) other offline pornography to under 21s in (i) shops and (ii) garages.

Physical (or ‘offline’) media with pornographic content is usually classified 18 or R18 rating by the British Board of Film Classification under the Video Recordings Act 1984. This Act is the responsibility of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, rather than DSIT.

DSIT is responsible for the Online Safety Act, which requires online services in scope of the Act to proactively tackle and remove illegal content, including illegal pornographic content. By summer 2025, all user-to-user services that allow sharing of pornographic content should also use highly effective age assurance if necessary to prevent children from accessing such content.