UK Government Report Downplays Online Safety Act’s Potential Impact on Porn Sites

LONDON — The U.K. government released on Wednesday a new report assessing the likely impact of implementing the provisions of the controversial Online Safety Act (OSA), revealing adult industry concerns that a standalone provision directly targeting porn sites will render their operation in the U.K. “not feasible.”

The report, titled “Potential Impact of the Online Safety Bill,” buries this key concern of adult stakeholders among assessments by several other industries, which minimize the predicted impact of the OSA. The law is currently undergoing a consultation process led by media regulator Ofcom, prior to its eventual enactment next year.

As XBIZ reported, when the bill was passed in October 2023, the members of Parliament who drafted the act — through several years of debate and under the glare of a persistent media-led anti-porn panic — consulted several anti-porn crusaders and activists, but declined meaningful consultation with adult industry stakeholders. Only during the current post-ratification process of assessment for implementation have the U.K. government and Ofcom contacted industry stakeholders to ask for their input.

The anti-porn campaign during the drafting of the law resulted in a special standalone provision, separate from other OAS classifications targeting “online harms,” which specifically targets adult websites. That provision “requires all service providers that publish or display pornographic content on their services to prevent children from accessing this content,” the report explains. 

This standalone provision is one of the “numerous changes” the report cites as having been made “as a result of extensive engagement” after the initial impact assessment, the Online Harms White Paper, commissioned by the government in 2019. The report released this week updates the earlier OHWP.

After quoting several respondents who said that “no additional costs” were expected as a result of the law, the report notes the response to the standalone pornography provision:

“Staffing/resourcing cost: One large pornography provider estimated it would cost around 10-20p per user verification. Using this cost they estimated this would cost the business about £500,000 per month for the UK alone. They felt this would not be feasible. The interviewee did not give detail about how this initial estimate was calculated.

“Reduction in users / revenue: This pornography provider also raised the issue of additional friction that would be introduced if a platform implemented age assurance technology i.e. additional steps or clicks to access the platform, which may put users off using their site and represent a loss in revenue as a result of a reduction of users, or drive existing users to alternative platforms that are not compliant with age assurance regulation.

“Note: this duty only relates to pornography publishers and only one pornography provider has been engaged in this research.”

A footnote adds, “Pricing will vary materially depending on the type of age assurance solutions used and the volume as discounts would likely apply. For example, some AA providers offer solutions ranging from £0.01 per transaction.” Another footnote reads, “It is important to note that the regulation sets out to apply consistently across organizations so this cost should not be one platforms will have to bear, but is nonetheless a cost platforms were concerned would apply.”

Report Downplays Adult Industry Concerns

Despite the warning that implementation will result in the disappearance of law-abiding adult sites from the U.K. and the exodus of porn viewers to rogue sites, the report concludes with an optimistic cost-benefit analysis, stating, “The Online Safety Act must prevent just 1.3% of online harms to offset the cost of the regulatory regime to business and government.”

When the legislation cleared the House of Lords in September 2023, TechCrunch reported, “There is concern the bill will lead to a mass age-gating of the UK internet as web services seek to shrink their liability by forcing users to confirm they are old enough to view content that might be deemed inappropriate for minors.”

The following month, when the bill received royal assent, industry attorney Corey Silverstein told XBIZ, “Online platforms are now going to have to make very difficult decisions, with some platforms already promising to geoblock U.K. users altogether and to stop offering their services there.”