英国通信管理局（Ofcom）列出了四项年龄核验方式，称这些方式能够可靠地判断英国社交媒体用户是否年满16岁。它们将成为英国明年对16岁以下用户实施社交媒体禁令的基础，而许多成年人也将不得不通过这些核验。
Ofcom has named four age checks it says can reliably tell whether UK social media users are 16 or over. They will underpin the UK social media ban for under-16s due next year, and many adults will have to pass them too.
该监管机构于周四公布了其评估结果。该禁令定于明年3月生效，将覆盖包括Instagram、TikTok和Snapchat在内的十大平台，佐伊·克莱曼为BBC报道。政府将在年底前决定要求采用哪些核验方式。政府于6月宣布了这项针对16岁以下用户的禁令。
The regulator published its assessment on Thursday. The ban is due to start in March. It will cover ten of the biggest platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat, Zoe Kleinman reported for the BBC. The government will decide which checks to require by the end of the year. It announced the ban on under-16s in June.
四项核验方式均以身份证明为基础。照片身份证件比对会将护照等证件与核验过程中拍摄的实时图像进行比对。银行核验则使用银行记录中保存的年龄信息。据《The Reported》报道，英国通信管理局估计，英国约90%的16岁和17岁青少年拥有银行账户。
Four checks, all built on ID Photo ID matching compares a document such as a passport with a live image taken during the check. Bank checks use the age a bank holds on record. About 90% of UK 16 and 17-year-olds have a bank account, Ofcom estimates, The reported.
数字身份服务会对个人进行一次验证，然后向其他服务确认其年龄。面部年龄估算的误差范围为几年。英国通信管理局建议平台辅以第二种方法。
Digital ID services verify a person once, then confirm their age to other services. Facial age estimation has a margin of error of a few years. Ofcom suggests platforms back it up with a second method.
三项适用于成年人的核验方式未列入名单：信用卡、移动网络核验和基于电子邮件的核验。每一种都只能证明用户年满18岁。据TechRadar报道，英国通信管理局还认定自我声明、合同条款和父母同意无效。
Three checks that work for adults did not make the list: credit cards, mobile network checks and email-based checks. Each one only proves a user is 18. Ofcom also judged self-declaration, contract terms and parental consent ineffective, TechRadar reported.
这四种方法都需要某种形式的带照片身份证件。英国通信管理局估计，约94%的16岁和17岁青少年持有护照或驾照等证件。没有证件的人则需要去办理一份。
All four methods need some form of photo ID. Ofcom estimates that about 94% of 16 and 17-year-olds have one, such as a passport or a driving licence. Those without one would need to get one.
平台自行选择，成年人需完成核验。英国通信管理局不会规定单一方法。首席执行官梅拉妮·道斯告诉BBC，那些对色情网站制定严格规定的国家发现这些规定并不奏效。
Platforms choose, adults verify Ofcom will not prescribe a single method. Chief executive Melanie Dawes told the BBC that countries which set strict rules for porn sites found they did not work.
“以下这些方法是可行的，它们必须保护隐私，必须保护人们的数据，但你需要自行决定采用你认为适合你的方式，”道斯告诉BBC。
“Here are things that can work, they must preserve privacy, they must protect people’s data, but it’s on you to put in place what you think works for you,” Dawes told the BBC.
平台可能会根据成年人过往的活动推断其年龄。但据《泰晤士报》报道，英国通信管理局表示，“许多”成年人将不得不进行年龄验证。该监管机构告诉英国广播公司，它没有确切数字，但预计会有“大量账户”。
Platforms may infer some adults’ ages from their past activity. But Ofcom said “many” adults will have to verify, according to The. The regulator told the BBC it has no firm figure, but expects a “large number of accounts”.
Meta告诉英国广播公司，它希望这项检查在手机上通过苹果和谷歌运营的应用商店一次性完成。这样用户就不必在每个平台上都证明自己的年龄。英国通信管理局表示，这并不会使平台免于自行开展检查。
Meta told the BBC it wants checks done once on the phone, through the app stores run by Apple and Google. Users would then not have to prove their age on every platform. Ofcom said that would not free the platforms from running their own checks.
预计会出现规避手段。英国通信管理局承认，一些儿童会绕过这些检查。据《泰晤士报》报道，该机构计划简化对疑似未成年用户的举报流程、采用年龄推断模型，并在禁令生效后进行为期12个月的监测。澳大利亚的禁令自2025年12月起生效，但在测试中未能通过早期的年龄检查。
Workarounds expected Ofcom accepts that some children will get round the checks. It plans easier reporting of suspected underage users, age inference models, and 12 months of monitoring once the ban starts, The reported. Australia’s ban, in force since December 2025, failed early age checks in testing.
道斯在一份声明中说：“这项禁令将塑造儿童网络生活的未来，因此把它做对很重要。”
“This ban will shape the future of children’s lives online, so it’s important to get it right,” Dawes said in a statement.
隐私团体表示反对。据《泰晤士报》报道，“老大哥观察”组织负责人西尔基·卡洛称该计划是“变相的国家身份证系统”。卡洛说：“该计划将扼杀网络匿名性。”
Privacy groups object Silkie Carlo, director of Big Brother Watch, called the plan “a national ID system by the back door”, according to The. “The plan will kill anonymity online,” Carlo said.
Malwarebytes的彼得·阿恩茨告诉TechRadar，照片身份证件比对会制造“另一个对犯罪分子有吸引力的目标”。他提到Discord的一家支持服务提供商发生数据泄露，约7万张身份证件图像被曝光。
Pieter Arntz of Malwarebytes told TechRadar that photo ID matching creates “another attractive target for criminals”. He pointed to a breach at a Discord support provider that exposed about 70,000 ID images.
据英国广播公司报道，儿童安全团体对该指导意见表示欢迎。英国全国防止虐待儿童协会表示，必须让科技公司遵守这些标准。莫莉·罗斯基金会首席执行官安迪·伯罗斯表示，英国通信管理局在执行《在线安全法》方面的“记录非常糟糕”。
Child safety groups welcomed the guidance, the BBC reported. The NSPCC said tech firms must be held to the standards. Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said Ofcom had a “dire track record” of enforcing the Online Safety Act.
其他欧洲国家也在朝同一方向推进。希腊上周通过了其针对15岁以下人群的禁令，欧盟也有自己的年龄验证应用。
Other European countries are moving the same way. Greece passed its under-15 ban last week, and the EU has its own age verification app.