Will the AVS obligation in the UK be a flop ?

Aug 5, 2025 #Age verification, #Ofcom, #UK
Altersverifikation Großbrittanien

Also available in: Deutsch (German)

With much fanfare, the British regulatory authority ‘Ofcom’ published a binding directive that would require providers of adult content to implement age verification starting in July 2025 (CASZIN reported). Officials celebrated in advance that numerous providers, including PornHub, announced their intention to implement the regulation. Now the entire measure is faltering. In the run-up to the announcement, a petition against the AVS requirement had already been signed by over 400,000 people. Among other things, the petition was based on accusations that the law was too vague and also covered sites that do not offer pornography at all (such as Reddit or Discord). In addition, it was demonstrated how easy it is to outsmart the systems used. This did not even refer to simple VPN solutions. Rather, facial recognition could be circumvented in a playful manner, in the truest sense of the word. A video game (‘Death Stranding 2’) offers a photo mode in which a character can be given the player’s own likeness and then perform realistic movements in front of a camera. According to ‘The Verge’ magazine, this is enough to trick the systems. It remains to be seen whether Ofcom will actually insist on the questionable regulation and take action against alleged violations.