UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces yet another rebellion from within the Conservative Party, this time over legislation that proposes to introduce more stringent age verification mechanisms to prevent children from accessing pornography, reported Bloomberg. While the Rishi Sunak government insists that “legislation remains general,” to tackle the ever changing dynamics of the internet, certain members of the Tory party insist on specific amendments due to how damaging porn can be for children. This latest intra-party tussle comes after earlier this month, PM Sunak already gave in to demands of Tory MPs to introduce tougher punishments for social media bosses whose platforms give children access to harmful content. What are the proposed amendments? A series of amendments being drafted for the long-debated Online Safety Bill will propose that all porn websites must implement age verification systems within six months of it becoming law, reported Bloomberg. These new amendments will require anyone accessing a porn website “to prove” that they are over 18, using mechanisms similar to ones in place for gambling websites. Uploading ID cards or credit card details are likely to be two accepted methods of age verification. To preserve privacy, this can be done through third party websites rather than the porn website itself. Currently, most websites only require a nominal declaration of the user being above 18 – a method incapable of stopping even an internet novice. However, some websites like OnlyFans use facial recognition software to estimate their user’s age. However, this method currently is not 100 per cent accurate and also prone to privacy concerns. What do Tory lawmakers say? "What we need is an emphatic timetable and clear cut commitment to hard-gated mandatory age verification," James Bethell, a Conservative peer who is overseeing the amendments said to Bloomberg on Tuesday. The new amendments are likely to be debated in late February. What has the Rishi Sunak government’s stance been? Sunak government’s position on this issue as well as previous issues concerning social media and big tech has been on the side of limited regulation. On this issue, the government has advocated for legislation to be kept general in order to address challenges in social media’s constantly changing landscape. It is Sunak’s advocacy for such “general legislation” that has been characterised as “vague” and “toothless” by members of his own party. Notably, earlier this month, Sunak bowed down to demands from around 50 Tory MPs who wanted an amendment in the Online Safety Bill that would hold social media chiefs and big-tech bosses criminally liable for “failing to deter children from accessing harmful content.” Along with members from his own party, even the Labour Party supported this legislation, backing PM Sunak into a corner. Since coming to power last year, Rishi Sunak has faced one challenge after another, especially failing to unite his own party behind his leadership.
