Urgent warning to close ‘loophole’ within online age checks

Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.AllNewsSportCultureLifestyleEngland’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. In fullGovernment must stop children using VPNs to dodge age checks on porn sites, commissioner demandsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

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