Four companies in the UK are pursuing legal action against the government in an attempt to force them to bring in age verification for people accessing porn online.
In 2019, the UK government planned to introduce restrictions on acessing pornographic content through regulation. Individuals would then need to provide a form of identification or buy a "porn pass" in order to access adult content.
The project was widely criticized for a number of reasons, including its invasive nature and concerns over data protection. There's also the fact that social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Reddit offer access to pornographic material, but would not be affected by the scheme because it counts for less than one third of their total content. Moreover, it would be easy to bypass such restrictions using a VPN.
Eventually, the scheme was canceled. Nevertheless, a number of companies invested time and resources building age verification systems for use by porn websites. Now four of these companies—AgeChecked Ltd, VeriMe, AVYourself and AVSecure—are arguing that the decision to axe the "ban" completely was an "abuse of power," according to The TelegraphThe Telegraph.
A judicial review challenging Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan's decision has been lodged, stating that while the government has the power to delay when the scheme launched, it did not have the power to stop it completely. They are also asking for damages of £3 million (approximately $4 million) for losses sustained developing the verification tech.
The companies are backed by the UK's Children's Charities' Coalition for Internet Safety (CCCIS). In a statement to The Telegraph John Carr, secretary of the CCCIS, said: "If a judicial review is the only way of getting better protection for children then we are all in favour but it should never have come to this. Everything was in place and ready to go. Children who could have been protected from truly horrific sexual images will instead be exposed to them. That cannot be right."
A spokesperson for the government said that it was unable to comment on legal proceedings, but that it was committed to ensuring that children were protected online.
VPN usage is most prominent among 16-34 year olds who would easily be able to circumvent any restrictions. Even if these companies force the government to bring in the ban, young people are still just one search away from downloading the best free VPNs and learning how to set them up to get past it.