Internet News

Ireland's government is preparing to require citizens to use a state-controlled digital wallet app to access social media platforms and adult websites, even as its own departments continue to suffer repeated data breaches.

The app, being developed by the governments chief information officer, will hold key personal identifiers such as a persons Public Services Card and drivers license, and could later include other credentials like a TV license.

Under the proposal, social media companies will be required to use this government system to verify the age of users before granting access to their platforms.

Surveillance Minister Patrick ODonovan described the plan as a necessary step to address what he called the severe public health issue of children viewing inappropriate material online. He said that hose who refuse to use the app would lose access to their social media accounts and to websites listed on a government age-restricted schedule.

However the Irish government's own of protecting personal information remains poor. Figures released by the Department of Defence show that 31 data breaches occurred in 2025, though only two were serious enough to be reported to the Data Protection Commission (DPC).

The government has gone censorship crazy and is introducing a new law making creation of nonconsensual, intimate images illegal to come into force this week.

Censorship minister Liz Kendall claims that a decision by X last week to restrict the Grok AI deepfake tool to subscribers did not go far enough. She goes on:

Under the Online Safety Act, sharing intimate images without someone's consent, or threatening to share them, including images of people in their underwear, is a criminal offence for individuals and for platforms.

My predecessor [Peter Kyle] rightly made this a priority offence, so services have to take proactive action to stop this content from appearing in the first place.

The Data Act, passed last year, made it a criminal offence to create or request the creation of nonconsensual and intimate images.

And today I can announce to the house that this offence will be brought into force this week, and that I will make it a priority offence in the Online Safety Act.

This means individuals are committing a criminal offence if they create or seek to create such content, including on X. And anyone who does this should expect to face the full extent of the law.

A new survey of 1,469 adults, which was conducted by the child protection focused Lucy Faithfull Foundation, has noted that 45% of adults who dont want to verify their identities to access porn have turned to using sites without age checks. In addition, 29% have used Virtual Private Networks to bypass age checks on sites that have them.

Kerry Smith, CEO of the Foundation, said:

Its highly concerning that age verification measures are not being implemented on certain platforms. Safeguards on pornography sites are essential to protect children from accessing pornography, which we know, if viewed at a young age, can normalise harmful sexual behaviours and leave children more vulnerable to grooming from predators.

There needs to be strong enforcement of the Online Safety Act to ensure robust and meaningful safety measures are put in place on pornography platforms, including the use of deterrence messaging and signposting for adults to appropriate support services.

We would also encourage the government to bring in even more robust legislation, so online pornography is treated just as it is in the offline world.

An Ofcom spokesperson said

Change is happening, and the tide on online safety is beginning to turn for the better. Last year saw important changes for people, with new measures across many sites and apps now better protecting UK users from harmful content, particularly children. But we need to see much more from tech companies this year, and well use our full powers if they fall short.

Ofcom does have the power to impose significant financial fines, although there remains a question mark as to how much impact this will have on non-UK based sites. The regulator could also ask broadband ISPs and mobile operators to block the sites at network-level, although this would have little impact on VPN users.

Overall, its hardly surprising or controversial that many adults do not want to have to share their private personal or financial details with unknown and unregulated third-party age verification providers, particularly when those services are associated with porn peddlers. The infamous Ashley Madison hack showed just how dangerous such information could be in the wrong hands (countless cases of blackmail and suicide etc.).

Poland's nationalist President Karol Nawrocki has vetoed EU censorship law. The EU's Digital Services Act, which seeks to force big platforms like Elon Musk's X, Facebook, Instagram to censor content, as a form of Orwellian censorship against conservatives and right-wingers.

The presidential veto stops national regulators in Warsaw from implementing the DSA.

Nawrocki argued that while the bill's stated aim of protecting citizens was legitimate, the Polish bill would grant excessive power to government officials over online content, resulting in administrative censorship. Nawrocki said in a statement;

I want this to be stated clearly: a situation in which what is allowed on the internet is decided by an official subordinate to the government resembles the construction of the Ministry of Truth from George Orwell's novel 1984.

French lawmakers are preparing a renewed push to restrict children's online experience, unveiling a proposal that would block anyone under 15 from using social media platforms.

The draft legislation sets September 2026 as the target date for enforcement.

President Emmanuel Macron has endorsed the plan and urged Parliament to take it up.

To apply such a rule, online platforms would need to verify every user's age at sign-up or login. This would go far beyond the current model of self-declared birthdays and instead rely on official credentials such as national IDs, drivers licenses, or government-backed digital identity wallets. In effect, it would introduce a form of digital ID into everyday internet use.

Pornhub writes:

Overview.

A recent cybersecurity incident involving data from a third-party data analytics service provider has impacted some Pornhub Premium users. Specifically, this situation affects only select Premium users. It is important to note this was not a breach of Pornhub Premium's systems. Passwords, payment details, and financial information remain secure and were not exposed.

What Happened.

We recently learned that an unauthorized party gained unauthorized access to analytics data stored with Mixpanel, a third-party data analytics service provider. The unauthorized party was able to use this unauthorized access to extract a limited set of analytics events for some users. This was not a breach of Pornhub Premium's systems. No passwords, credentials, payment details or government IDs were compromised or exposed and we have since secured the affected account and stopped the unauthorized access.

Potential User Contact. We are aware that the individuals responsible for this incident have threatened to contact impacted Pornhub Premium users directly. You may therefore receive emails claiming they have your personal information. As a reminder, we will never ask for your password or payment information by email.

What We Are Doing.

Upon becoming aware of this event, we immediately launched a comprehensive internal investigation with the support of our cybersecurity experts. We have engaged with relevant authorities and with Mixpanel so that we can provide you with facts. We are working diligently to determine the nature and scope of the reported incident.

What You Can Do.

While our investigation is ongoing, we encourage all users to remain vigilant by monitoring their accounts for any suspicious emails or unusual activity.

Australia has activated a new requirement for search engines to verify the ages of their signed-in users, with companies now facing a six-month countdown to full compliance.

The rule, which began on December 27, sits within a newly registered industry code under the authority of the eSafety Commissioner and extends the countrys expanding system of online censorship controls.

Search services such as Google and Bing must soon introduce age-assurance checks when logged-in users perform searches that might surface adult or otherwise high-impact material. The mechanisms vary, but common approaches include prompting users to confirm their age through a pop-up screen or submitting an official document, credit card details, or digital ID.

For those not logged in, searches will still function, but some content may appear blurred. Logged-in users under 18 will automatically receive filtered results excluding topics the government labels as harmful.