Even though the UK has failed to deliver on its promise of creating an adult verification system to keep British minors from seeing adult content online, Australia thinks it can make a similar plan work.

 

The Aussie government has started to explore how to establish a system in the country through a standing committee focused on social policy and legal affairs.

 

“This is concerning, as research shows that accessing pornography negatively influences young peoples’ attitudes to sex, sexuality and relationships,” argued LNP MP Andrew Wallace, chair of the committee.

 

The committee will begin by seeing how age verification is used to keep young people off of gambling websites, and determine whether or not the same system makes sense for porn sites.

 

In a slight nod to the failed attempts in the UK, the Committee is also mandated to explore the down-side of such a verification system, including a fear of exposing Australian's private data, the issue of free expression, and the possibility of driving adults to unregulated markets to access their content. 

 

The British attempt has been in the works for several years and keeps being postponed. The government has now promised it will be released before the end of 2019 or at the very beginning of 2020. The UK has yet to adequately address issues of privacy, or the fact the social media sites -- Twitter and Reddit, for example -- are exempt.

 

We're sure that Aussies will have better luck than the Brits ... not.