By Katherine Rushton For The Daily Mail
Published: 23:10 BST, 14 April 2019 | Updated: 00:09 BST, 15 April 2019
1
View
comments
The information watchdog has been accused of ‘infantilising’ web users, in a draconian new code designed to make the internet safer for children.
Web firms will be forced to introduce strict new age checks on their websites – or treat all their users as if they are children, under proposals published by the Information Commissioner’s Office today.
The rules are so stringent that critics fear people could end up being forced to demonstrate their age for virtually every website they visit, or have the services that they can access limited as if they are under 18.
The information watchdog's new code has been accused of ‘infantilising’ web users by some experts
They may have to log in every time they visit an online shop, browse holidays online or look at commercial news websites, critics argue.
Critics also warned that the rules would severely damage the online advertising business, threatening the provision of free web services such as online news websites and chat forums including Mumsnet and TripAdvisor.
Companies that do not stick to the code face fines of up to 4 per cent of their global turnover – £1.67billion in the case of Facebook.
The radical proposals are designed to protect children using the internet, according to the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham.
Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham is behind the new laws, which will enforce strict new age checks or treat all users as children
Elizabeth Denham risks stepping into controversy with her new code on internet regulation.
The Information Commissioner has already made clear she is determined to take on the likes of Facebook.
Last autumn she said Mark Zuckerberg’s website had passed a ‘tipping point’ of unlawful behaviour and spoke of her ‘appetite’ for confrontation.
However her attempt to regulate web barons is showing signs of potentially backfiring.
With the plans of Home Secretary Sajid Javid to set up an internet regulator under attack over censorship, her children’s code is now in danger of being seen as a bureaucratic threat to people and businesses who rely on the web. Canadian Miss Denham, 59, is a lifelong civil servant with no experience in
