Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the government of Australia’s response to the Roadmap for Age Verification for online pornographic material in August 2023, specifically the decision not to mandate age verification for the time being; and whether there are lessons for UK policy in this area.

Under the UK’s Online Safety Act, publishers of pornographic content and user-to-user providers which allow pornography must use highly effective age verification or age estimation to ensure children are not normally able to encounter this content on their service. This reflects the serious risks that this type of content poses to children.

The Australian response to the Roadmap notes that age assurance technologies are still in development. The Act ensures that, as new solutions develop, these can be used to support the protection of children.