ID Required to Watch Porn In The UK

On Saturday I was in a Wetherspoons with two of my mates. One of them, Ollie, wanted to raise his drink to me. I didn't really know what he was on about. But, he proceeded to share how it is now harder than ever for people to access porn sites in the UK.

Recently, the UK brought in new legislation so that ID is required to ensure people are over 18 if they wish to view content on porn sites.

My mates have known about my issue with porn for over 10 years now. I told them about my NoFap streaks at the age of 16 when we were back at school.

Fast forward to now and I'm on a mission to help people leave porn for good, from an empowered stance, moment by moment. It was a lovely gesture for Ollie to raise his drink to me, thinking I'd be pleased about this news. Generally speaking, I am an incredibly optimistic person. I believe wholeheartedly that people can change and transform their lives for good. I know this first-hand. But, when it comes to these new regulations - I am far from optimistic. Society is too far gone. Porn has already infected our culture in the West. Oversexualised content is in your face all the time on social media.

Popular songs and music videos are more sexual now than ever.

Even as I walked down to see my friends on Saturday, I saw people on the streets selling bucket hats that were branded (as a joke) with the likes of PornHub and FakeTaxi (Porn sites). Porn has already messed up UK culture, just as it has across other countries all over the world. We have worked with clients in each and every continent across the world. This is a global issue that is completely out of hand (or in hand if you are being literal about it). And the only way to reverse it, is with the right education. The change has to come from individuals who choose to take back control of their own life, not from anything external like government legislation. Otherwise, feelings of deprivation and the constant conflict will just continue for those who already have addicted neural pathways. People will seek porn elsewhere, like on social media and OnlyFans. And, the market for illegal porn will likely just get bigger. In my opinion, porn is a lot more similar to a hard-core drug like heroin than many people think.

Countless men in the UK are about to get into feelings of deprivation and feel like they "can't watch porn anymore" and this will make their problem much worse. My guess is these recent changes will lead to thousands, maybe millions more men becoming addicted. I hope it does prevent the younger generation from getting addicted in the first place. That would be great news for society. And perhaps it will. I know I would never have used face ID to access porn in the first place if this was required But, I probably would have found "softer" porn elsewhere.

If I had a recommended next step for the UK government, it would be to have more men who have overcome porn addiction (although this is rare) go into schools and provide talks on the harm of porn and make it very clear to people - you have a choice!!

For these kids, they still CAN watch porn. There will always be a way to watch porn. Yes, it may be more difficult. Yes, it may be illegal.

But, let's be honest - most kids in the UK have been drinking under the age of 18 for years. I remember even having a fake ID myself. Anyway, I have contacted the school I went to (High Storrs in Sheffield) this morning again to see if they would be interested in me providing a talk.

Maybe by sharing my personal experience, I can help a kid out. Let's see what happens.