LOS ANGELES — The Guardian is reporting that implementation of the U.K.’s online age verification law will be delayed yet again, this time indefinitely, just weeks before it was to be mandated.
The law requires adult-oriented websites to verify the age of their visitors and was set for enforcement July 15.
The Guardian’s media editor Jim Waterson reports the delay is the result of legal technicalities surrounding the U.K.’s notification of the European Commission regarding key details.
“A government spokesperson did not deny that the age verification had been indefinitely delayed and confirmed that the culture secretary, Jeremy Wright, would deliver a statement on the issue in the House of Commons on Thursday morning,” Waterson wrote. “A delay could see the issue of age verification fall under the responsibility of whoever wins the contest to be prime minister, such as the frontrunner Boris Johnson.”
The British Board of Film Classification was tasked with helming the program, which received considerable criticisms from privacy advocates and the tech-savvy, who pointed to ready bypass via VPNs and other technology and the lack of governance over prominent social media sites such as Twitter.
Waterson noted the delay is problematic for age verification businesses and adult website operators, which had invested in developing and implementing the new technology and business models needed for targeting U.K. consumers.
“They were relying on the launch going well in order to sell their product around the world and make the U.K. a hub for global age verification systems,” Waterson explained, “with many backed by small investors who could lose out in the event of a lengthy delay.”
The full article can be read here.
