The UK is about to make watching porn more difficult for kids. Could the US do the same?

Assessing pornographic material in the United Kingdom is about to becoming increasingly difficult after legislators approved a provision requiring websites that host pornographic material to verify the age of users.

What are the details?

Beginning next month, the UK will require any website hosting pornography to verify the age of its users, according to The Metro. This will ensure that people deemed too young to view the material — children younger than 18 — are not accessing the smut by falsely claiming age 18 or older.

Mainstream pornography websites will reportedly use an online age verification system called AgeID. James Clark, a spokesman for AgeID, told The Metro that prospective users will need to submit ample documentation to AgeID — such as a passport or other government-issued ID — before accessing the pornographic website.

Once verified, the users will be able to access pornography on all smut websites using AgeID.

Not all pornography websites will use AgeID, and there are other ways users will be able to verify their age, such as through the purchase of vouchers and other special IDs.

The UK released the guidelines last year after passing the Digital Economy Act in 2017. Failure to comply with the new rules will result in substantial fines and website blocks by UK internet service providers.

The writer's perspective: Why the US needs similar laws

Although scientists are just discovering the impacts of long-term pornography usage, research has already proved fruitful. In fact, scientists have discovered evidence showing that the human brain responds to pornography in the same manner it does chemical substances such as cocaine.

With the neurological response comes the cycle of addiction. And in the same way an addict develops a tolerance — the "bump" that previously got them high no longer does the job, now they need a line or two — pornography usage increases over time and the material consumed devolves from that which, at a cursory level, reflects natural human relationships to material that simulates violence, rape, and wholly unnatural sex acts.

The earlier this cycle begins in a young person's life, the earlier it descends into an addiction with far-reaching ramifications, most often surfacing as the degradation of humans — longtime pornography users view other humans as mere objects whose purpose is to satisfy their sexual urges — but sometimes even full-blown violence.

Though these impacts are nearly universal among pornography users, when young people are introduced to this pervasive world, their developing neurotransmitters are being wired in such a way that it will become much more difficult in the future to break their addiction to pornography and recover from long-term use.

If physically blocking young people from accessing pornography through mandatory age verification systems is the mechanism that prevents them from beginning of the cycle of addiction to vital stages of cognitive development, then by all means, let's implement similar provisions here in the U.S.