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Last modified on Wed 5 May 2021 17.57 EDT
Lawyers have begun judicial review proceedings against the government over allegations it failed to stop children in the UK watching online pornography.
Age verification for legal pornography sites was introduced under part 3 of the Digital Economy Act in 2017 but the government never enforced it.
Ministers have said the planned online harms bill will instead protect children by placing a burden on internet providers to protect users from “harms” including viewing pornography while under age.
But critics point out that this bill is currently only at white paper stage with no current date to bring it before parliament.
BBC News
By Branwen Jeffreys
image copyrightBBC news
image captionMr Dekas is seeking a High Court hearing with a young woman who is also concerned
A father and a student campaigner are seeking a High Court hearing to consider whether the government should tighten youngsters access to porn.
Ioannis Dekas and Ava Vakil want the government to implement proof of age for access to pornography promised in the 2017 Digital Economy Act.
It comes as new research suggests the majority of 16 and 17-year-olds in the UK have recently seen pornography.
The government is currently preparing a new Online Harms Bill.
This bill would go further than the Digital Economy Act, giving the watchdog, Ofcom, powers to block access to online services - including social media platforms and search engines - which fail to do enough to protect children.
Help curb access to porn
Not that long ago, the UK Government committed an unfathomable U-turn by deciding not to implement bold new legislation to prevent children accessing online pornography.
Politics analysed James Mildred
photo: iStock
Part 3 of the Digital Economy Act would have required users to provide some form of identification to prove that they are over the age of 18 before accessing explicit content. It would also have ensured an operational regulator with powers to crack down on websites hosting illegal extreme pornography.
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The 5th edition of the Ghana CEO Summit will be launched on Tuesday, April 20, at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel in Accra.
The conference for decision makers, CEOs, heads of institutions, business leaders and entrepreneurs as well as investors and ambassadors, seeks to unlock Ghana’s economic potential by offering concrete, innovative and actionable solutions. It also seeks to champion private-sector led growth, lead discussions around innovative public policies and best growth-oriented business practices to help the country build resilient companies and outstanding CEOs.
Organisers of the Ghana CEO Summit have themed this year’s summit on “Digital Transformation: Powering Business and Government RESET for a Post-Pandemic Economic Resilience. A Public-Private Sector Dialogue.”