Ofcom says search engines can bypass online age checks

Ofcom said search engines can still direct users to adult content that does not use age checks, despite new age-verification rules taking effect in the UK.

Ofcom said age verification is proving effective on services that have implemented it, according to telecoms.com. The regulator said the current system is fragmented because some sites apply age checks while other online services still provide access to adult material without equivalent controls.

Ofcom said search engines can be used to avoid age checks because they can direct users to adult content on sites that do not have verification measures in place. The report described this as a consequence of piecemeal implementation rather than a failure of age verification itself.

The telecoms.com report said the UK approach has not yet closed all access routes to adult content because enforcement and compliance vary by service type. Ofcom's position, as described in the report, is that age verification works where it is deployed but does not yet cover the wider online ecosystem consistently.