It was first promised in 2015 but was repeatedly delayed.
The UK government has announced it is abandoning a plan to use strict age verification checks to stop under-18s viewing porn online.
The long-delayed measure, which was first promised in 2015 and first due to come into effect last year, will not be commencing following repeated delays.
The delays were caused by legal, practical and technical difficulties.
In simple terms, the plan was to require pornographic websites to verify users are over 18 before they view content.
Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan confirmed that the plans “will not be commencing”.
“The Digital Economy Act objectives will therefore be delivered through our proposed online harms regulatory regime,” Morgan said in a statement.
“This course of action will give the regulator discretion on the most effective means for companies to meet their duty of care.”
Critics warned that many under-18s would have found relatively straightforward to circumvent the restrictions using virtual private networks (VPNs), or indeed view it on websites not categorised as pornographic sites but still host pornographic materials.
They also suggested the law could leave people more susceptible to blackmail if their viewing habits were stolen by hackers.
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