Spain is to bring in a “pioneering” new app to stop children from accessing pornography online amid growing worldwide concern about minors viewing extreme content via phones or computers.
The Spanish government said on Tuesday it will pass a law to force firms that provide sexual content to make users submit some form of identity to see pornography.
Users will have to download the app, a QR code or a certificate that verifies their age using an ID card, a health or residence card, a driving licence, or a passport to access websites without disclosing personal data to third parties.
Criminals pretending to be underage to lure children will not be able to access the sites as it will be impossible for them to register as minors.
Pilar Alegria, the Spanish government spokesperson, said the app would be “pioneering in Europe”.
Britain introduced new age-checking guidance last month to prevent children from accessing online pornography. The UK government’s Online Safety Act requires sites and apps that publish pornographic content to ensure that children are not normally able to encounter pornography on their service.
The legislation was backed by the NSPCC but critics said that it would allow a regulator and tech firms to dictate what may or may not be said online. Others raised concerns over a lack of transparency around the tools and how people’s data is collected.
In December, the European Commission added three porn sites to its Digital Services Act, forcing them to apply stricter rules in a move to prevent children from accessing sexual content. Under the act, websites Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos must carry out and submit comprehensive research and risk assessments to address their use by children.
The websites fall under the EU law because they have more than 45 million active users – or 10 per cent of the population of the EU. They will face large fines if they fail to comply.
Half of children in both Spain and England have seen pornography by the turn they turn 13, researchers have found.
“The data is devastating. Almost half of young people under 15 years of age consume it,” Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, said in an interview with El País newspaper.
“And this is not puritanism. This affects the development of our adolescents and also the future behaviour that they may have on an issue like equality.”
Ms Alegria said a law, which is likely to be supported by all political parties, will be approved later this year to support the use of the app which will come into action in the summer.
Experts have warned that watching pornography led to incidents like AI-manipulated images of girls at a school in southern Spain last September, which were put on the internet against their will. In more serious cases, a spate of gang rapes in recent years involving teenage perpetrators were also blamed on violent pornography.
In Spain, the app will be developed by the national data protection agency AEPD and the Royal Mint, which will consult with tech firms like Alphabet, Meta and TikTok.
“Just by checking the age of access to adult content, we can have a profound impact on a person’s development, health and life,” said Mar España, director of the AEPD.
Spain’s antitrust watchdog, which oversees the audiovisual market, said a new law required providers to set up age verification systems. i reports
