Checking age pushes people to shadow pornographic sites

UK New Life Check Laws have some unintended consequences. It seems that the rules, which require users to download images or selfies to access certain web sites, are caused by reverse in some cases.

New analysis before Washington Post I found that pornographic sites that are compatible with the rules are losing traffic, while those who ignore the law are rewarded with an increase in visitors.

The analysis comes just one month after the UK began enforcement of the online safety law, which puts new legal pressure on platforms, including search engines and social media, to protect users from harmful content. Legislators put it as a way to keep children away from porn and other “harmful” materials associated with self -disorders, suicide and eating disorders.

But the data indicates that the opposite may happen. The pornographic sites that exceeded the verification of the new identity have seen their fans grow, while those that followed the rules lost users. Some of these sites have doubled three times their fans in August compared to last year, according to what he said mail.

One of the main provisions of the law requires pornographic platforms and other sites with content downloaded by the user to use technology that checks the user’s age or estimates it. In practice, this means that people are forced to download an identifier issued by the government or a personal photo to prove that they reach enough to reach a specific content.

Users already find ways about digital checkpoints. Some of the UK’s superior players have discovered that they can deceive Reddit and Discord Verification Systems using Death Stranding photos. Most of them Just launch VPNWhich hides their location and makes it seem to be browsing from outside the United Kingdom

Or, simply, they flow on sites that never bother her by checking the first life.

What the analysis found

To find out how the law was playing, mail I looked at the UK traffic estimates over the past year compared to 90 of the largest porn sites, using data from a similar analytical company. Correspondents then launched VPN to imitate the UK user and check the sites that have already requested an age verification.

They found that 14 out of 90 sites completely exceeded the age examination, and each of them witnessed a significant traffic. One of the sites of the United Kingdom has doubled last August, where he recorded more than 350,000 visits.

Offcom, the UK’s media organizer, told the newspaper that it had opened four pornographic investigations into compliance. However, only one of the 14 sites that have been marked before mail It was on that list.

The porn industry has warned that this could happen.

“Life -guarantee legislation in other judicial states fails for several reasons, including inconsistent and inactive enforcement on a large scale, leaving hundreds of thousands of platforms that can be accessed inappropriate content, most of which do not contain content measures or load verification measures,” A statement in June. “We know that when people choose not to verify age, they do not stop searching for the content of adults, they migrate to these irresponsible platforms.”