UK Online Safety Regulations and impact on Forums

[Mr Lucky]

Any tips for good sites for that would be appreciated.

The obvious one is Amazon but I’ve heard once they realise you are a forum they pull the account. Not sure if it’s the same.

I’d suggest you contact the hamster food and accessories companies and distributors and negotiate directly with for affiliate partnership or banners ads.

 

[Alvin63]

Thanks. Tried that a few times in the past. Big companies aren’t interested and it wouldn’t go down well with the membership as many sell unsuitable products for profit. Suitable ones tend to be smaller companies with no budget.

 

[FidoMike]

This might sound silly but.. we are on a Xenforo forum... so how is Xenforo the company complying with the law here? Would be interested to know, and although I have a license I do not recall any age verification happening when I joined etc?

 

[Alvin63]

This might sound silly but.. we are on a Xenforo forum... so how is Xenforo the company complying with the law here? Would be interested to know, and although I have a license I do not recall any age verification happening when I joined etc?

There isn't a requirement to have age verification - depending on the outcome of a risk assessment.

 

[hkymre]

Bluesky are launching age verification in a fortnight

Working with the UK Government to Protect Children Online - Bluesky

Part of Bluesky’s mission to create a more open and decentralized social web is helping users feel safe and in control of their experience. We always try to balance safety with privacy, and free expression with civility.

bsky.social

 

[chillibear]

Interesting. Supposedly the Kids Web Service is totally free for developers ... https://www.kidswebservices.com/en-US

KWS is entirely free of charge

Parental consent, particularly verification, can be a costly barrier to developers making their digital experiences available to all. KWS has no upfront cost, recurring charges, or volume restrictions. Whether you’re building an app with hundreds of millions of active users or an indie launching a new game, the service remains free for both developers and parents.

Documentation is here: https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/kids-web-services/get-started

 

[Alvin63]

Interesting. Supposedly the Kids Web Service is totally free for developers ... https://www.kidswebservices.com/en-US


Documentation is here: https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/kids-web-services/get-started

Interesting - so is that a way of getting free age verification? I don't quite understand what it does.

 

[Alvin63]

There's this as well. All adult users of the internet in the EU required to use an app

Age verification on social media in the EU from 2025: how the new app will work and what Ukrainians should prepare for

From July 1, 2025, social media and streaming services in the EU will require age verification through a special app. Find out who will be affected by the new rules, how verification will work, and what will change for Ukrainians

visitukraine.today

"The project has started, with technical specifications, source code and a beta release of the solution already published."

The EU approach to age verification

The European Commission is working towards an EU-harmonised approach to age verification.

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu

"This app will appear in July 2025 and is intended to function as a temporary interim solution until the digital identity card is introduced in November 2025. Currently, a source code of the Android version is available on GitHub."

EU launches temporary app for age verification in July

The European Commission is introducing an application that allows EU users to prove whether they are old enough for certain websites.

itdaily.com

Google "age estimation" for youtube and connecticut banning algorithmic recommendations for under age users without parental consent - plus blocking children from social media between midnight and 6am and capping time use at 1 hour a day.

YouTube, Meta lean into age assurance in 2025 | Biometric Update

In the past twelve months, age assurance for online content has gone from a relatively niche issue to a priority agenda item for governments.

www.biometricupdate.com

 

[chillibear]

Interesting - so is that a way of getting free age verification? I don't quite understand what it does.

It would appear so. The underlying verification systems are documented here: https://dev.epicgames.com/docs/kids-web-services/pv-service/verification-methods letting you know which providers are actually supplying services, so you'll see some familiar names like Yoti and so forth. So obviously if EPIC are covering the costs and providing this for free they are presumably getting something of value from it. At best a warm fuzzy feeling at worst I guess some user data.

All adult users of the internet in the EU required to use an app

At least it looks like this is (at present) mostly targeted at sites that are properly intended for adults not just ones where reading something you don't like might upset you. Come back the Internet of the 90s all is forgiven!

 

[Alvin63]

Thanks - I still don't quite understand it It talks about a parent verification service. So the EU are planning on a digital identity card for 2026. Maybe the Uk will go that way too. If everyone has a digital identity card, presumably that can just be scanned (QR code or something) for age verification, on entering a website.

 

[Suzanne O]

Thanks - I still don't quite understand it It talks about a parent verification service. So the EU are planning on a digital identity card for 2026. Maybe the Uk will go that way too. If everyone has a digital identity card, presumably that can just be scanned (QR code or something) for age verification, on entering a website.

That's like what us Aussies have!
It's called a working with children check. It's a plastic card telling them that they aren't dangerous around kids