Age verification for online safety

The Online Safety Act 2025 launched on internet platforms in the UK on Friday 25 July 2025.

What does this mean for the internet? In short, social media and other platforms are required to implement safety measures protecting children or face large fines. This means that age verification tools are now being used on sites where they could access harmful content.

What do you need to know about the new rules and how they are being implemented?

The Online Safety Act is a piece of legislation that received Royal Assent on October 26, 2023, with the aim of protecting children and adults online. The Government website has more information The Government website , they say  "It puts a range of new duties on social media companies and search services, giving them legal duties to protect their users from illegal content and content harmful to children. "The Act gives providers new duties to implement systems and processes to reduce risks their services are used for illegal activity, and to take down illegal content when it does appear”.

Why is age verification being used on the internet?

As of July 25, internet platforms have a legal duty to protect children from harmful content. Companies within the scope of the act must introduce safety measures as part of this, which include age verification. Social media platforms will have to suppress material that could be potentially harmful to children (ie mature/adult content, self-harm, the promotion of dangerous stunts, encouraging the use of harmful substances and enabling bullying etc)

How is age verification utilised by platforms?

Ofcom, the media regulator, has set out a number of ways websites can verify the age of users. This can be done through credit card checks, photo ID matching and estimating age using a selfie. Whatever format platforms choose, they must be "technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair."