Statement: ‘Specially restricted material’ and Age Verification Guidance for Providers of On-Demand Programme Services

Please note that Ofcom’s statement on “‘Specially restricted material’ and age verification guidance for providers of on-demand programme services” (3 December 2018) has been withdrawn.

Our statement, which followed a consultation published on 22 October 2018, explained changes we were planning to make to the on-demand rules and associated guidance on age verification to reflect changes to the law and to bring the rules into line with new requirements relating to commercial pornographic content online, under the authority of the British Board of Film Classification (“BBFC”).

However, on 16 October 2019 the Government announced that it would not be commencing the legislation necessary for the BBFC’s regulation of online pornography and that, instead, it would deliver its child protection aims through the planned wider online harms regulatory regime.  At the same time, commencement of the legislation which would have changed the on-demand rules was put on hold.

As a result of this and the fact that Ofcom’s amended guidance for age-verification was based on the scheme proposed by the BBFC, we have decided to withdraw our statement. We will consider next steps in the light of any legislative developments including developments in relation to the online harms regulatory regime, and will provide updates to affected on-demand service providers as appropriate.