MPs have backed changes to the law to stop children from accessing online adult content.

Under the changes, adult sites in the UK will require proof of age, such as driver's licences or age verification cards.  Visitors to the sites will be redirected to age verification pages before they can access content. 

The new rules were passed by the House of Commons on Monday and come into effect from April next year. 

The Government's media minister Margot James told MPs that the regulations were an 'important step forward' in preventing children from accessing adult sites online.

'In the offline world, there are strict rules to deter children from accessing adult content,' she said.

'A large amount...is available on the internet in the UK, often for free, with little or no protections to ensure that those accessing the content are old enough to do so.' 

However, the rules do not extend to social media platforms. Ms James said this was because the amount of adult material to be found on them is 'a relatively small minority of the content that they provide'. 

'This is not a foolproof guarantee that young people and children will not be exposed... online. It is a significant step forward, but there is .. the potential for people to access material on social media platforms, which do not fall within the scope of the regulations unless more than a third of their average content is [adult content],' she said.