The Online Purchasing of Goods and Services (Age Verification) Bill received its first reading in Parliament on Tuesday when it was introduced by Labour MP Margaret Moran as a private member's bill.
Moran said in a speech to the House of Commons that e-commerce provided people under 18 with a loophole, enabling them to buy age-restricted goods such as alcohol, cigarettes and pornography.
"There are most often no checks online, thus enabling children to buy age-restricted goods," she said. "This is at a time when we are all rightly concerned about the increasing availability of knives and alcohol to under-age youngsters."
"The Bill would require online retailers and those who facilitate such purchases – for instance, via pre-payment cards – to take positive steps to ensure age compliance. We cannot have a wild west scenario whereby anything is sold to anyone and no one takes responsibility."
While credit cards are only available to over-18s, many goods can now be purchased using pre-payment cards which can be obtained by people under 18.
"The People newspaper worked with a 14-year-old called Zach," said Moran. "He got a pre-paid card at a local store; he paid cash and walked out the door with it. The card retailers say that their cards can be sold only to people over the age of 18, but Zach had no trouble getting his – there was no check whatsoever."
