EVERY Briton over 16 could be forced to show photo ID for social media under Labour's under-16 ban, Ofcom warns
Ofcom has identified four age-verification methods — including facial age estimation and bank checks — to keep under-16s off social media from March.
Around 150,000 British teenagers aged 16 and 17 risk being locked out of Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat entirely because they lack a passport or driving licence, Ofcom has warned. The regulator published its assessment on Thursday, naming four verification methods it regards as sufficiently robust to enforce the under-16 ban due in March: photo ID matching, banking checks, digital ID services, and facial age estimation.
Ofcom chief Dame Melanie Dawes admitted it is 'inevitable' some determined children will bypass the checks, comparing them to alcohol laws that cannot eradicate underage drinking.
Campaigners have branded the prospect of mandatory photo ID for all adult social media users 'an Orwellian assault on free speech'.
Facial age estimation technology carries an error margin of several years, so platforms may have to request further proof of identity from users whose age it cannot reliably confirm.
