Government must stop children using VPNs to dodge age checks on porn sites, commissioner demands
Urgent warning to close ‘loophole’ within online age checks
- England’s children’s commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has urged the government to prevent children from using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass age verification on pornography websites.
- Her new report reveals a rise in children accessing online pornography, with 70 per cent of respondents having seen it before age 18, up from 64 per cent two years ago.
- The report highlights that 59 per cent of children and young people encountered pornography online accidentally, suggesting harmful content is pushed by algorithms rather than sought out.
- VPNs allow users to mask their location, enabling them to circumvent age checks introduced by the Online Safety Act on adult content platforms.
- While the government states VPNs are legal for adults and will not be banned, it warns platforms that promote workarounds for children will face severe penalties and fines.