Politicians have raised concerns about children's safety after a review found age checks were not being carried out on adult websites in Jersey.
Great Britain introduced age verification on porn sites in July to make it more difficult for people under 18 to view explicit material.
The review, carried out by the education research group, found that suggestions that the UK rules would indirectly protect children in Jersey were not entirely correct, meaning that “children in Jersey may now face fewer barriers to accessing objectionable content than their UK counterparts.”
Replying to reviewEconomic Development Minister Kirsten Morel said legislation was being drafted that would allow people to remove harmful content.
In May, Deputy Morel told the Children's Supervision Commission that the government has not considered introducing age verification on adult websites in Jersey.
“The reality is that if the UK introduces age verification for pornography or any other sites, anyone in Jersey wanting to access them will likely have to interact with the UK age verification system we find ourselves in today,” he said.
“This is true”.
Speaking to the States Assembly about the review on November 11, MP Catherine Curtis said: “On the day age verification measures came into force in the UK, we checked whether they were also in place in Jersey and they were not.
“Evidence shows that children's curiosity will give them access to these kinds of things at an early age.
“Surveys show that by the age of nine, one in ten children have visited adult porn sites.”
In response to the question, Morel said online safety is important and the review is “incredibly helpful.”
“The government is drafting legislation and one of these laws… will allow people of all ages to remove harmful content,” he said.
