Britain’s most tattooed man has complained that he is being blocked from accessing online pornography by facial age verification technology.
The King of Ink, who has legally changed his name, has been barred from X-rated sites because the filter flags his heavily inked face as a mask.
He has been hit by the stricter checks under Ofcom’s Children’s Codes, which came into force last week, when he tries to speak to webcam girls.
‘Some of the websites are asking for picture verification, like selfies, and it’s not recognising my face,’ The King of Ink said.
‘It’s saying “remove your mask” because the technology is made so you can’t hold up a picture to the camera or wear a mask.
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‘Would this also be the case for someone who is disfigured?
‘They should have thought of this from day one.’
The businessman and entrepreneur, from Stechford, Birmingham, feels discriminated against on the basis of his permanent identity.
‘It’s as important as the name really and I changed my name legally,’ he said
‘Without a name you haven’t got an identity, and it’s the same with a face.
‘It’s not like you can do the old John Travolta in Face Off and change it when you want to.
‘It’s my skin, my permanent identity.’
The 45-year-old, who changed his name from Matthew Whelan to King Of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-ite, has previously encountered difficulties using his passport.
As the new rules came into effect, he found he was also prevented from using a webcam service.
He told Metro he has ‘dabbled’ in the adult entertainment industry and has enjoyed going to awards shows.
The tattoo enthusiast, who has spent more than 1,600 hours getting inked, described the sites he visits as ‘no different from a lapdancing club except you’re in the comfort of your own home.’
‘It’s also good for men’s mental health, even if you’ve got a wife or girlfriend,’ he said.
‘It’s not one of the things you should keep private.’
The Instagrammer said he has found a way around the curbs through a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which have become the most downloaded app on Apple’s UK App store since the checks came in.
They mask the user’s location online, allowing them to browse as if they were in another country.
‘A lot of people use VPNs and I use a VPN myself now,’ he said.
‘It’s like a cloak of invisibility really.’
The codes are designed to protect young people, with sites required to have ‘highly effective’ age verification in place.
Boxes for users to tick confirming they are over 18 are no longer adequate and have to replaced by methods such as credit card or ID checks or AI facial age estimation.
The new rules are designed to prevent children from accessing porn, self-harm, suicide and eating disorder content.
As the changes took effect, Ofcom chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes said that ‘prioritising clicks and engagement over children’s online safety will no longer be tolerated in the UK’ and anyone breaching the code would face enforcement action.
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