On top of its draconian new surveillance laws, the UK government wants to enforce strict age checks for viewing online pornography. Any website that contains adult material will have to verify users’ ages using methods like credit card checks. The law will apply to websites hosted outside the UK, and those that refuse to introduce age checks will be banned. This could affect sites like Twitter, Tumblr, and Reddit, all of which contain pornographic material, even though that is not their primary use. Sites would be banned by asking ISPs and mobile operators to block access, just as with piracy websites.

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