Ofcom sets out four methods for UK social media age checks

Ofcom has identified four age-check methods it considers highly effective for enforcing planned UK social-media restrictions, while warning that facial age estimates can be inaccurate near the age threshold and may require additional checks. The regulator’s assessment names photo-ID matching, bank-based verification, digital identity services and facial age estimation as possible ways for platforms to determine whether users are at least 16. The government plans to make social-media access unavailable to under-16s, with restrictions expected to begin in spring 2027. Ofcom said facial age-estimation systems can be wrong by several years around age 16. It recommends that platforms seek an additional check when a person’s age is uncertain. The assessment does not say that every adult will have to show photo identification, and it lists banking and digital ID as other potential verification routes. Ofcom estimated that about 150,000 people aged 16 and 17 lack both a passport and a driving licence. The estimate draws on CitizenCard evidence from a nonrepresentative school survey of 8,459 teenagers. It does not establish how many would fail verification or be unable to access a...