Ghana to Require National ID or Driver’s Licence for Porn Sites Access: Sam George Unveils New Online Safety Policy
Accra, Ghana – June 4, 2026
The government of Ghana is preparing a new digital policy that will require users to verify their identity before accessing pornographic websites. Minister for Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Samuel Nartey George, disclosed the proposal at the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family, Sovereignty and Values in Accra.
According to the Ningo-Prampram MP, the policy proposal is currently being drafted for Cabinet consideration. If approved, Ghanaians will need to provide either a driver’s licence or the Ghana Card, the national identification card, before they can access any X-rated website. The goal, he explained, is to prevent children and minors from being exposed to explicit online content.
“We’re working on going to Cabinet on that to make sure that before you access any X-rated site, you must put either your driver’s licence or your national ID card so that we know who you are and who is going to that site to prevent children from being exposed to such content,” Sam George said during his address.UK model cited as reference
The Minister pointed to measures already in place in the United Kingdom as a model for Ghana. In the UK, age verification systems require users to submit identification to prove they are 18 years or older before accessing adult websites. Sam George argued that Ghana can adopt a similar approach using the Ghana Card and driver’s licence databases to verify age and identity.
“Today in the United Kingdom, for you to access a pornographic website, you need to put your driver’s licence for them to be able to determine that you are 18 years,” he stated.
Sam George linked the proposed policy to concerns about child development and morality. He warned that early exposure to pornography can distort how children think, make decisions, and understand relationships. He described it as a “real threat” to Ghanaian society.
“This is the real threat. Because when a child is oversexualized at an early age, it affects their development, it affects their thinking, it affects even their morality and their values and their standards,” he said.
The Communications Minister also connected the proposal to broader efforts to protect Ghanaian cultural and family values. He reiterated his support for the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, commonly called the anti-LGBTQ+ Bill. According to him, one of the key objectives of that legislation is to safeguard the innocence of children.
“When my colleagues and I in Ghana introduced the Family Values Bill, one of our key arguments has been that we’re fighting for the innocence of Ghanaian children because our children must be protected,” he added.
The policy proposal will now go through Cabinet review before any law or regulation is drafted. If passed, Ghana will join a growing list of countries implementing strict age-verification laws for online adult content. Digital rights groups and tech companies are expected to weigh in on issues of privacy, data security, and enforcement once the draft is published.
For now, the Ministry of Communications says the priority is to balance online freedom with child protection and the preservation of family values for future generations.
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