Online porn sites could be blocked under proposed legislation
The Conservative party has today (4 April) promised the introduction of age verification controls for online hard-core pornography should the party win the next General Election.
The legislation will protect children accessing pornography online
Announcing the news on Facebook, the Conservatives said websites that show adult content without proper age controls in place to stop children looking at pornography will be blocked altogether.
"No sex shop on the high street would be allowed to remain open if it knowingly sold pornography to underage customers, and there is no reason why the internet should be any different," read the statement.
An independent regulator will oversee the new system to determine, in conjunction with websites, how age verification controls will work and how websites that do not put them in place will be blocked.
The pledge follows an NSPCC ChildLine report which found that a tenth of 12 to 13-year-olds fear they are "addicted" to pornography.