Re:Age verification mandatory for porn sites in the UK start...
by Jigsy on Friday January 17, 2025 @04:24PM
(#42743422)
As someone from the UK, which is where this article is on about, it is not illegal in this country for minors to see pornography in and of itself.
Selling it to, etc. obviously are.
Re:Age verification mandatory for porn sites in the UK start...
by dangus on Sunday January 19, 2025 @12:43PM
(#42759342)
That's effectively the same thing in the context of this law.
It's illegal to distribute to minors, but the Internet has made it extremely easy for distributors to turn a blind eye.
Again, if it were a physical store, the shopkeeper would be obligated to kick out anyone under 18.
But on websites, there's just a pinky promise button and that's it.
> It is illegal for an individual to knowingly use interactive computer services to display obscenity in a manner that makes it available to a minor less than 18 years of age (See 47 U.S.C. § 223(d) –Communications Decency Act of 1996, as amended by the PROTECT Act of 2003). It is also illegal to knowingly make a commercial communication via the Internet that includes obscenity and is available to any minor less than 17 years of age (See 47 U.S.C. § 231 –Child Online Protection Act of 1998).
> The standard of what is harmful to minors may differ from the standard applied to adults. Harmful materials for minors include any communication consisting of nudity, sex or excretion that (i) appeals to the prurient interest of minors, (ii) is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable material for minors, (iii) and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.
The most important part of this quote is that the standard for minors is different than that of adults. Material that is not considered obscenity for adults (e.g., legal pornography) can be and is considered obscenity for minors.