Age Verification Backlash: Compliant Websites Suffer, Non-Compliant Sites Gain Traffic

Recent reports reveal an unexpected consequence of new age verification legislation: websites that diligently implement these checks are experiencing significant drops in traffic, while those that disregard the rules are seeing a surge in visitors. This trend, particularly evident in the UK, raises questions about the effectiveness and fairness of current online safety measures.

In the United Kingdom, web users are increasingly encountering age verification prompts as part of the Online Safety Act’s stipulations. While some measures impact social media platforms, requiring verification even for direct messages, the most dramatic shifts in web traffic are observed on genuinely adult websites.

The Unintended Consequences of Compliance

According to a report by The Washington Post, which analyzed data from Similarweb, web traffic to pornography sites that have implemented age verification in the UK has plummeted. Conversely, the 14 out of 90 most-visited adult sites that have not yet deployed these “scan your face” age checks have witnessed their traffic from UK-based users as much as triple compared to the previous year.

While the use of VPNs could potentially distort location data, the sheer volume of this traffic shift suggests a clear preference among users to bypass age verification. This influx of visitors for non-compliant sites translates directly into increased ad revenue, creating a substantial financial advantage over their compliant counterparts.

Adding insult to injury, sites adhering to the new regulations not only face a loss of advertising income but are also burdened with the additional cost of implementing and maintaining legally required age verification services.

Regulatory Scrutiny and Public Sentiment

The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, is already taking notice. It has launched investigations into “four companies which collectively run 34 pornography sites” to ascertain whether these providers have “highly effective age checks in place to protect children.” The future for sites flouting the Online Safety Act’s age verification requirements remains uncertain, especially with the potential for clone and mirror sites to emerge in response to enforcement.

Public opinion on these measures is divided. While many Brits broadly support the concept of age verification, a significant portion feels the implementation has been flawed. This sentiment is echoed by some compliant websites that have openly criticized the law, linking to a petition for its repeal. Despite over 500,000 signatures, the UK government has stated it has “no plans to repeal the Online Safety Act.”

A Global Challenge: Age Verification Beyond the UK

The UK is not alone in grappling with these complex issues. Similar age verification laws are emerging globally. For example, the US state of Mississippi has enacted legislation requiring sites to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for known minors. This law also demands “commercially reasonable efforts” to insulate underage users from harmful content – a challenging mandate for any online platform.

In response to Mississippi’s law, platforms like Bluesky have chosen to block users from the state, with TechCrunch reporting that Mastodon is following suit, citing a lack of resources to implement age verification effectively. Meanwhile, Australia has conducted studies into age assurance technology, concluding that it could be rolled out “privately, efficiently and effectively.”

As age verification measures continue to proliferate worldwide, the internet as we know it may be facing a significant transformation, potentially leading to a more fragmented and “smaller” online experience for many users.