Kids have been using fake ID since time immemorial – theres only one way to make Ofcoms age checks work [Video]

News just in from Ofcom which has revealed new guidance on how it expects website and apps to bring in “highly effective age assurance systems” by July to stop children from accessing harmful content, while allowing adults to access pornography legally.

Systems it considers to be “highly effective” include photo ID matching, open banking, facial age estimation, credit card checks, mobile network operator age checks, email-based age estimation and digital identity services – to which I must ask: has anyone at Ofcom been a child?

And have they consulted, for example, a teenager in the countryside for the most effective way to get around all of these options? Because I assure you, they will be able to give them a list.

As a former child myself, bored out of my wits in the rural 90s, I was well acquainted with swerving around limits, as were my peers. Girls in my GCSE year bought vodka …