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haha my brother text me a little while ago saying what the fuck is this age verification on porn sites in the UK
I mostly use a VPN or Brave so I don't see these things, so I hopped on firefox and yep... apparentlyu
As of July 25 2025, people in the UK accessing web services with pornographic content will have to prove they are over 18 years of age.
there is an intersting petition against it
petition.parliament.uk
from Reddit
It says porn, but it’s any nsfw content. It’s blocking all sorts of sites, Reddit is asking people for ID to access some mental health and suicide help subreddits, someone said the beer subreddit is blocked too (which is mad given kids see their parents consume alcohol and it’s in stores). It’s a blanket ban on anything deemed nsfw. It’s also affecting many small websites, who are simply blocking U.K. IP addresses. U.K. based websites which can’t afford to outsource the verification are simply shutting down.
It’s got huge repercussions for people’s safety, and I believe Wikipedia is also at risk of being blocked which is a huge source of information for many people that is free and easily accessible.
By blocking everything like this it means people are at risk of having resources blocked. Things like domestic abuse sites, help for a mental health crisis, LGBTQ sites and the like. All sites which may discuss things that are sensitive and, under this law, potentially deemed ‘nsfw’. Local support websites for people in the local area are at risk of closing down too. It’s easy to blanket ban everything but this law has the potential for dire repercussions for victims of abuse, violence and hate crimes.
It’s easy to get a vpn for many of us, but for some it isn’t. People in abusive relationships, abusive homes, dangerous situations etc who may not have access to their own bank account, etc. With sites blocked they may be stuck with no way to access them.
I mostly use a VPN or Brave so I don't see these things, so I hopped on firefox and yep... apparentlyu
As of July 25 2025, people in the UK accessing web services with pornographic content will have to prove they are over 18 years of age.
there is an intersting petition against it
Petition: Repeal the Online Safety Act
We want the Government to repeal the Online Safety act.
petition.parliament.uk
from Reddit
It says porn, but it’s any nsfw content. It’s blocking all sorts of sites, Reddit is asking people for ID to access some mental health and suicide help subreddits, someone said the beer subreddit is blocked too (which is mad given kids see their parents consume alcohol and it’s in stores). It’s a blanket ban on anything deemed nsfw. It’s also affecting many small websites, who are simply blocking U.K. IP addresses. U.K. based websites which can’t afford to outsource the verification are simply shutting down.
It’s got huge repercussions for people’s safety, and I believe Wikipedia is also at risk of being blocked which is a huge source of information for many people that is free and easily accessible.
By blocking everything like this it means people are at risk of having resources blocked. Things like domestic abuse sites, help for a mental health crisis, LGBTQ sites and the like. All sites which may discuss things that are sensitive and, under this law, potentially deemed ‘nsfw’. Local support websites for people in the local area are at risk of closing down too. It’s easy to blanket ban everything but this law has the potential for dire repercussions for victims of abuse, violence and hate crimes.
It’s easy to get a vpn for many of us, but for some it isn’t. People in abusive relationships, abusive homes, dangerous situations etc who may not have access to their own bank account, etc. With sites blocked they may be stuck with no way to access them.
