It is unclear how the UK’s crackdown on accessing pornography on the internet will affect the Isle of Man.

In July, Westminster will bring into force laws that will require websites with age-restricted content, such as pornography, to show they are taking sufficient steps to verify their users are over 18.

This could result in British residents having to register their driving licence or passports with such websites to access its content.

The Isle of Man is not covered by the same legislation but many websites such as Netflix, Sky Go, Amazon and particularly foreign websites, list the island as part of the UK, so, it seems likely that many sites will be blocked for users here under UK rules.

The Manx Independent asked the Department of Home Affairs whether Manx residents would be forced to reveal their details in order to access the sites.

A spokesman for the DHA said there was not any law or regulation from the Isle of Man Government.

We approached Manx Telecom, which provides internet services for most people in the island. But the company did not want to comment.

Rival Sure said the onus was on the content providers, not the service providers such as itself or MT.

Mike Phillips, chief executive of Sure Isle of Man, said: ’Sure takes the online safety of its customers very seriously and is a member of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), which aims to make the internet a safer place.

’This involves restricting access to sites that contain illegal or harmful material.

’The new legislation in the UK applies to content providers rather than service providers and our hope is that the legislation will have a positive impact on user experience.’