Commissioner Calls For Urgent Action To Stop Children Using VPNs To Access Porn
The children's commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, is calling for urgent action to stop kids from using VPNs to dodge age checks on porn sites. Describing it as “absolutely a loophole that needs closing,” she wants VPN providers to implement strong age verification measures. This comes after VPN apps became the most downloaded apps on Apple’s App Store last month following the rollout of the Online Safety Act, which forces adult sites to verify user ages.
A recent report from the commissioner’s office paints a bleak picture: more children are encountering extreme porn, often unintentionally. Over half of those surveyed said they had seen porn involving strangulation as minors, and nearly 60% stumbled across porn by accident. Some reported first viewing such content at as young as six years old. Dame Rachel blames algorithm-driven platforms for pushing harmful content to children who weren’t even searching for it.
While the government insists VPNs are legal for adults and won’t be banned, they’ve warned companies not to promote them as workarounds. “We will not allow corporate interests to come before child safety,” said a spokesperson. Despite some resistance from tech firms, Dame Rachel hopes that this moment will become a turning point: “This report must act as a line in the sand.”
