House of Lords introduces private member's bill to resurrect age verification plan

Baroness Howe of Idlicote's bill intended to force government into implementing the so-called porn block

A member of the House of Lords has introduced a private member's bill in a bid to force the government to resurrect the age verification plan for pornographic websites.

The bill was introduced in a first reading yesterday as the Digital Economy Act 2017 (Commencement of Part 3) Bill by Baroness Howe of Idlicote.

The government had withdrawn the plan in October following claims that its plan amounted to a "porn habit database" that could leave people wide open to blackmail should age-verification systems be compromised.

The scheme had missed more than one deadline for implementation as it struggled to overcome practical challenges.

The bill passed its first reading yesterday, although this is simply a formality, and will be debated in the House of Lords at a later date.

Baroness Howe of Idlicote is a crossbench life peer - meaning that she holds a non-hereditary title and is unaffiliated to any political party. The widow of Geoffrey Howe, she was formerly known as Lady Howe of Aberavon before receiving a peerage in her own right.

The idea of the so-called porn block started with former Prime Minister David Cameron, with the much criticised and delayed plans only being passed under Theresa May in the form of the Digital Economy Act 2017.

At one point, May's government was even planning to extend age verification to social media.

The measure requires pornographic websites to verify that users are over the age of 18 before they can view content, with the law prompting the establishment of a number of age-verification providers.

But on 16th October 2019, culture secretary Nicky Morgan announced that the government would drop implementation of Part Three of the Digital Economy Act 2017 and pursue its aimed via the "proposed online harms regulatory regime".

She added: "This course of action will give the regulator discretion on the most effective means for companies to meet their duty of care."

The move by Baroness Howe is likely to be symbolic - private member's bills are rarely passed, and those that are normally do so with the support of the government of the day. With a large majority in the House of Commons, the bill is likely to be easily defeated.