France to be first country in the world to introduce 'porn passports'

Source: Daily Mail

France is set to introduce 'porn passports' to prove a person is over 18 while accessing sex websites - in a world first that aims to prevent children from viewing explicit material.

The plan by Jean-Noel Barrot, France's digital minister, will be enforced by September in the latest round of a years-long struggle to protect minors on the internet.

Under the new proposal, those wanting to access explicit material will need to download a government phone application that provides them with a digital certificate and code, the Parisien reported.

The code will be needed to access a porn website under a system 'which will work a bit like the checks from your bank when you buy something online,' Barrot told the newspaper.

'2023 will mark the end of our children accessing pornographic sites,' he added.

He said: 'I mean to end this scandal. I intend to have this law respected once and for all.'

Websites could be banned if they do not comply with age verification regulations.

The new law in France follows a debate in the UK over amendments to the Online Safety Bill.

Tory MPs have written to culture secretary Michelle Donelan to demand tougher age checks for those watching pornography.

It is understood that more changes to the bill will be announced before it is put to Parliament, which is expected to be within the next month.

The bill will include people smuggling, hate crimes, fraud and revenge porn as 'priority' illegal content.

The debate followed the revelation that children as young as nine are being exposed to graphic material on the internet, according to a survey of 1,000 young people.

Rather than adult websites, Twitter was the site where the highest proportion of young people – 41 percent – accessed sexual content.

Despite allowing users to set up an account aged 13, it is one of the few social media giants to still allow adult content, provided it is marked sensitive.

France's data protection and media regulators Cnil and Arcom are set to announce their latest proposals to rein in porn websites which are in theory subject to a 2020 law requiring age verification.

Previous attempts have been held up by privacy and technical concerns, as well as court action by the websites.

To its frustration last September, a Paris court ordered Arcom to enter into mediation with several porn websites including market leader Pornhub, holding up efforts to block them.

In France currently, people have to click a button confirming that they are over the age of 18 - but there are no other checks.

President Emmanuel Macron, who is married to former school teacher Brigitte Macron, promised to make protecting children from porn a priority during his bid for re-election last year.

In November, he launched the Children Online Protection Laboratory, an initiative that aims to bring together industry giants and researchers to look for ways to shield minors online.

In September last year, a report entitled 'Hell Behind the Scenes' by French senators concluded that there was 'massive, ordinary and toxic' viewing of porn by children.

The report found that two-thirds of children aged 15 or less had seen pornographic content.

The French production industry has been roiled by a series of sexual assault cases in recent years in which women have come forward to allege rape, mistreatment and manipulation by directors and fellow actors.