A proposed amendment would force websites and social media platforms to bring in age checks within six months.
The government is being urged to toughen legislation so websites are forced to introduce age-verification to stop youngsters accessing pornography.
The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing another rebellion from members of his party after 43 MPs wrote to the Culture Secretary calling for an amendment to the Online Safety Bill, which is still being finalised.
The amendment – which is supported by 14 charities – would force platforms to bring in age checks within six months, reports The Times.
The proposed legislation applies to both sites that provide pornography, such as Pornhub, and sites with user-generated content, such as OnlyFans.
Twitter is the user-generated content site where most children accessed porn, according to a report published this week by the children’s commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza. She found that 41 per cent of kids say they have seen explicit adult material on the social media site.
Companies that fail to introduce age verification using identity documents – such as passports or driving licences – could be banned in the UK and receive fines of up to 10 per cent of global turnover.
The letter, co-ordinated by MP Miriam Cates, warned that the current Bill “does not do enough to protect children from the predatory porn industry and will take far too long to implement”.
Lord James Bethell, who proposed the amendment, said gambling sites have already shown that strict age verification can be introduced quickly.
A spokesman for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “The Bill already has comprehensive and world-leading provisions in it to tackle underage access to online pornography. Any site hosting pornography will have to put in place robust measures such as age verification to prevent underage access or face huge fines.”
