After the UK’s Online Security Act came into effect on Friday, porn platforms and other adult content websites are needed to implement user age verification mechanisms, use virtual private networks (VPNs) and other circumvention tools that soared in the UK over the weekend.
Given that other countries that have implemented age check laws can see a similar trend, experts expect this surge. But with the debut of new age check regulations, Open Internet advocates warn that the rise in the use of Burcivention tools in the UK is a latest example of how it can develop between people who want to access services anonymously online and governments seeking to enforce content restrictions.
The Online Safety Act requires websites hosting pornographic, self-harm, suicide and eating disorders to implement “efficient” age checks for UK visitors. These checks may include uploading ID documents and taking selfies for verification and analysis. With the increasing demand for services like VPNs (a basic metric that allows users to mask their online location), People has also been playing with other creative solutions. In some cases, it is reported that you can even use video games Death StrandingPhoto mode to take a selfie of the character Sam Porter Bridges and submit it to the forum content accessing age-gated forum.
For supporters of the law, there are also progress to point out. Ofcom, a UK-based communications regulator, said that more than 6,600 porn sites have introduced age checks so far. Major social platforms such as Reddit, X and Bluesky have also added age verification of content currently being restricted in the UK or being restricted in the process. Microsoft has even started voluntary age checks for Xbox users in the UK. But even if the current campaign is satisfactory, the Digital Rights Advocate points out that the possibility of normalizing such mechanisms could make them more active in the future.
“I think people just want to prove that we can make some progress in this, without having to think about what the consequences of progress will bring,” said Daniel Kahn Gillmor, senior technician at the ACLU. “We do know there are things you can do to help kids build better relationships with digital tools. It involves building enough social support networks; when kids have problems and make sure they have normal emotional relationships with adults who can respond to them, it involves listening. But what we are looking for is fast technical fixes, and these technical fixes and the consequences of these technologies have consequences.”
Seema Shah, vice president of research and insights at market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, said the five VPN apps have experienced a particularly “explosive growth” and won the top 10 free apps on Apple’s UK App Store before Monday.
“According to Sensor Tower’s estimates, the peak of VPN downloads for iOS devices in the UK is higher, as the downloads of selected VPN apps averaged 100% daily day-to-day dates over the past four days, while the daily day-to-day jobs for Android devices increased by 5%.
