LONDON — U.K. media regulator Ofcom on Wednesday published its recommendations for where and how adult sites should deploy age checks as required for compliance with the Online Safety Act.
In a statement posted on its website, the agency noted that while adult sites have been taking various approaches to where they position their age checks, Ofcom’s recommended approach is to implement a “front gate,” where users see “a blank landing page, with no content visible until they have completed the age check.”
The agency considers this to be the safest and most compliant placement of age gating.
Other approaches to age assurance are still permissible, the agency noted, as long as they ensure children can’t access pornography before encountering the age check. For instance:
- Blur gate. If a site opts to use a “blur gate,” in which users see only blurred images before the age check, the blurring needs to be “sufficiently strong and across enough content to ensure that the content is not pornographic.”
- Image gate. A site using an “image gate,” in which users can see clearly visible images but clicking on a thumbnail directs them to an age check, must make sure that images and preview videos available before the check are not pornographic.
- In-video gate. A site using an “in-video gate,” in which users see thumbnails containing clearly visible images and can sometimes even watch parts of videos before being directed to an age check, would need to make sure the video content available before the check is not pornographic.
Ofcom’s statement specifies that content does not necessarily have to include nudity or depictions of sexually explicit acts to be pornographic.
“When deciding what content is suitable to include before an age gate, services should refer to our guidance on pornographic content, considering the wider context of their site and whether the images or videos are accompanied by sexually explicit language in titles, for example ... What matters is whether it is reasonable to assume the content was produced principally for the purpose of sexual arousal,” the statement clarifies.
The statement concludes, “We will continue to engage with and monitor the adult sector to identify and address non-compliance, including whether services’ placement of the age check is compliant.”
