LONDON — U.K. communications regulator Ofcom published on Monday the first edition of its online safety codes of practice and guidance for adult websites.
The codes are part of a set of regulations to prevent illegal harms online, mandated by the recently passed Online Safety Act, due to take effect in 2025.
“The Act places new safety duties on social media firms, search engines, messaging, gaming and dating apps, and pornography and file-sharing sites,” a statement from the regulator reads. “Before we can enforce these duties, we are required to produce codes of practice and industry guidance to help firms comply, following a period of public consultation.”
The codes have been published four months ahead of the deadline set by the Act to allow websites time to meet compliance requirements. Final guidelines for age verification requirements will be released next month.
Dame Melanie Dawes, chief executive of Ofcom, said in the statement, “For too long, sites and apps have been unregulated, unaccountable and unwilling to prioritize people’s safety over profits. That changes from today. The safety spotlight is now firmly on tech firms, and it’s time for them to act. We’ll be watching the industry closely to ensure firms match up to the strict safety standards set for them under our first codes and guidance, with further requirements to follow swiftly in the first half of next year.”
Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection (ASACP) Director Tim Henning, who has been consulting with Ofcom on behalf of adult industry stakeholders, urged compliance with the guidelines.
“Unlike some ‘child protection’ proposals in the U.S. and elsewhere that are thinly veiled attempts at the outright prohibition of pornography, the U.K. is leaving the door open for responsible platforms and providers to serve the needs of consenting adults,” Henning said. “We hope that implementing an economically feasible and successful approach to online child protection by the U.K. will inspire other jurisdictions to find more balanced ways of meeting this universal need.”