The Government's Online Safety Bill (Clause 131) will quietly abolish the much-dreaded Porn Laws.

The Adam Smith Institute’s Head of Research Matthew Lesh responded to the news:

"The repeal of the Porn Laws is excellent news for our privacy and online freedoms. This will mean Brits won't have to buy a state-sponsored porn pass or provide their credit card, passport or driver’s licence every time they visit a porn site.

"But we shouldn't celebrate too quickly. This is a pyrrhic victory. The Online Safety Bill will mandate age verification to access the adult versions of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Until you present a drivers' licence or passport, the sites will be forced to only display child-appropriate content. 

“Just like repeatedly approving cookies, constantly verifying your age will add huge inconvenience to surfing the internet. It would also mean forcing Big Tech to gather even more private data about individuals, risking our privacy and online security.”

Learn more about the Adam Smith Institute’s efforts to Repeal the Porn Laws.

For further comment or to arrange an interview, please contact Matt Kilcoyne via 07904099599 or email matt@adamsmith.org