Discord is testing face scanning to verify some users' ages in the UK and Australia.

The social platform, which says it has over 200 million monthly users around the world, was initially used by gamers but now has communities on a wide range of topics including pornography.

The UK's online safety laws mean platforms with adult content will need to have "robust" age verification in place by July.

And social media expert Matt Navarra told the BBC "this isn't a one-off – it's the start of a bigger shift".

"Regulators want real proof, and facial recognition might be the fastest route there," he said.

But campaigners have said these types of checks are ineffective and could lead to privacy issues.

"Age assurance is becoming the new seatbelt for the internet," said Mr Navarra.

"Will it become the norm in the UK? Honestly, yes, probably."

He said he believed the incoming changes in online safety laws mean online platforms would beef up their age verification processes.

"The era of 'click here to confirm you're 13' is dead," he said.

"Get age verification wrong now, and you don't just lose users – you could lose a courtroom battle or incur fines."

Firms which do not comply with the Online Safety Act could be fined up to 10% of their global turnover.

Instagram previously brought in age checks using facial analysis in 2022 for users who want to change their profile settings to be over 18.

The social media company requires users to take a selfie video on their phone and uses AI to estimate the person's age.

Like Discord, they can alternatively upload a picture of their photo ID.

The Black Country Living Museum has been crowned the best large visitor attraction in the country.

It was among several West Midlands tourist destinations that celebrated gold medals in Visit England's annual awards on Wednesday.

Mallory Court Country House Hotel and Spa in Warwickshire was named large hotel of the year while Keele University's won business events venue of the year.

A further seven places in the region won silver and bronze medals.

The museum saw off competition from Liverpool Football Club Tours and Experiences and the National Space Centre to claim the top spot, describing it as "a moment of real pride not just for the museum but for the entire Black Country region".

"To take home the gold is a proud moment for us all and a well-earned recognition of the passion and dedication of our staff and volunteers," director and CEO Andrew Lovett said.

"I'm thrilled we can now celebrate this with our visitors, who are such a vital part of our story."

The museum said its staff and volunteers were at "the heart of this success" as their "passion, knowledge and care bring our site to life every day".

The attraction recently added an industrial quarter to the site which features buildings and characters from the 1950s, a 1960s high street and numerous other recreations reflecting 250 years of local history.

More than 1,800 entries from across the country were whittled down to 52 national finalists judged by tourism industry experts at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, the museum said.

World of Wedgwood in Staffordshire won silver in the International Tourism category, which councillor Jane Ashworth, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, described as an "amazing recognition".

"It's great that on the first ever Stoke-on-Trent day, we can further spotlight the very best our city has to offer in tourism and show people what a wonderful part of the country this city is to explore and enjoy."

Other regional winners included:

• Self Catering Accommodation of the Year (silver) – Trevase Cottages, Herefordshire

• B&B and Guest House of the Year (silver) – Abbots Grange Manor House, Worcestershire

• Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award (bronze) – The Courtyard, Herefordshire

• Taste of England Award (bronze) – The Riverside at Aymestrey, Herefordshire

• Unsung Hero Award (bronze) – Andrew Hurley, Avoncroft Museum, Worcestershire

Among collectors of memorabilia there is one specialised field – train tickets.

And their current prize is a rare one: An example of the ticket for the first train to run on South Western Railway (SWR) after re-nationalisation this weekend.

But there is a problem – engineering works.

SWR will come under public ownership on Sunday at 01:59 BST precisely. The next scheduled service would normally be the 02:27 from Guildford to Waterloo, but that has been cancelled.

The next is the 05:36 from Woking – and tickets are on sale for £15.20 but this is also affected by the bank holiday repairs.

It is not the best start – the first nationalised train is a bus replacement service.

Not that you would have guessed all that from the launch of the new Great British Railways logo by Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander in Bournemouth this week.

It was a slick and impressive affair and Labour MPs like Portsmouth's Amanda Martin are looking forward to public ownership.

"My granddad was a train driver," she tells me, adding: "I'm really proud of what we're intending to do."

But will fares be lower? Perhaps not straight away but she says things will improve.

"It will take time but now we will be able to look at increasing our passenger services," she says.

"Make the passengers feel better on the trains from planning the journey to finding your tickets and if you're delayed, there'll be an instant repayment."

Liberal Democrat MP for Didcot and Wantage Olly Glover is on Parliament's transport committee and says nationalisation has potential but will require vision and leadership.

"What the industry needs is for the government to be really clear on what they want them to deliver in terms of wider economic and social and environmental policies," he says.

"They need to provide that clarity in multi-year funding and let the industry get on with delivering that. They need to take a step back from the detail and my worry is that this will encourage them to get more involved. "

Former Conservative MP Chris Loder used to work for South West Trains and says they should be not be ashamed of the time they held the franchise.

"We saw passenger numbers double over the period of privatisation until just before Covid," he tells me.

"We saw huge levels of investment that we haven't seen before."

But now he is calling for more competition even within the nationalised framework, using Open Access Train Operators, competing on the same line with the government-owned operator.

"We're in a different era," he explains.

"Passenger behaviour has changed and therefore that means that different structural changes are required.

"Open access operators should be allowed to run across the network. That of course is not the current Labour policy."

Even supporters of nationalisation admit it will take time before the effects are felt.

But maybe it will not be long before passengers do not have to check before travelling that their train has been replaced by a bus, or they need a small mortgage to buy a ticket.