Digital minister Chris Philp announced a new legal duty that will require porn websites to roll out "robust checks" to ensure users are over 18.

The new rule, which will come under the highly anticipated Online Safety Bill, could force sites that publish pornographic content to implement age verification technology to make sure they have a credit card and are over 18, or have a third-party service confirm their age against government data.

The government said that if websites fail to carry out sufficient verification methods, Ofcom could dish out a fine worth up to 10 per cent of their annual worldwide turnover, or could be blocked from the UK. It added that the bosses of these platforms could also be held criminally liable if they fail to cooperate with the regulator.

The government is concerned about a large amount of pornography currently being available with “little to no protections” to ensure those accessing the content are old enough to do so and said there were “widespread concerns” that this is impacting the way young people understand healthy relationships and sex.

“It is too easy for children to access pornography online,” said digital minister, Chris Philp. “Parents deserve peace of mind that their children are protected online from seeing things no child should see.

“We are now strengthening the Online Safety Bill so it applies to all porn sites to ensure we achieve our aim of making the internet a safer place for children.”

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