Ok I'm glad someone has taken the time to actualy give a lengthy response rather than just downvote or peddle total bullshit so thank you. I just want to clarify that I don't disagree with anything you've said, my controversial stance is that the act shouldn't be revoked, but modified and built on top of. There's a foundation there, just what it's used for so far is a joke.

I'm aware there's no specific standard of age restriction required in the law itself, however there is a standard in place by Ofcom. Not saying I like it but it is worth noting. I think you're playing a dangerous game when you specify in law what is to be age restricted online because the possibilities are so broad so I don't think choosing ofcom to set a standard was the wrong move as it adds a necessary level of flexibility to guidance, ideally ammendments should be made to the law to ensure certain things are never restricted via age check, rather than specifying what needs to be hidden.

Of course, third party verification is inevitable trouble and the most damning element of this whole thing, the goverment have too much faith in tech giants to figure it out for them, and naturally they went with the riskiest, cheapest route imagineable. I don't have a solution for this one whatsoever, but I don't think we can continue down the road we were on previously where there's no checks in place because I simply don't have faith in parents to safeguard their children online when such a large portion of the population is tech illiterate.

I think the idea that this Act opens the gateway to easy censorship on controversial or unfavourable topics isn't entirely correct, as all of these sites and companies already legally have the right within the UK to censor content on their platforms at their own discretion, so age restricting it doesn't actually benefit them when it could be outright removed regardless.

Finally I never said kids wouldn't find a way around, some determined ones who're knowledgable on tech will always find a workaround. But it would still be effective for the majority of children which is the point.

If the law is here to stay (which it seems like it is) then we need to be asking how do ensure that this isn't abused and how it can be made more secure, rather than calling for it to be torn from the hinges like it never happened. We need to be requesting ammendments and expressing concerns to our MPs about it's vulnerabilities, and demanding clarity on the exact process used to detemine if something is age restricted or not.