The commencement of the relevant provisions of the Digital Economy Act 2017 has been repeatedly delayed, having originally been set for April 2018 and later April 2019. It is now set for 15 July 2019.

The law requires commercial providers of online pornography to carry out robust age-verification checks on users to ensure that they are 18 or over. Websites that fail to implement age-verification technology face having payment services withdrawn or being blocked for UK users.

The “robust” checks will include the use of traditional ID documents (for example, credit cards or passports), mobile phones without adult filters, or “digital IDs” or cards purchased over-the-counter in shops.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the new laws.

Margot James, government minister for digital, said: “Adult content is currently far too easy for children to access online. The introduction of mandatory age-verification is a world-first, and we’ve taken the time to balance privacy concerns with the need to protect children from inappropriate content.

“We want the UK to be the safest place in the world to be online, and these new laws will help us achieve this.”

The UK government said it has “listened carefully to privacy concerns and is clear that age-verification arrangements should only be concerned with verifying age, not identity”.

In addition to the requirement for all age-verification providers to comply with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards, the BBFC have created a voluntary certification scheme, the Age-verification Certificate (AVC), which will assess the data security standards of AV providers.

Certified age-verification solutions which offer these robust data protection conditions will be certified following an independent assessment and will carry the BBFC’s new green ‘AV’ symbol.