People discover loophole to get around new UK porn rules less than one day after it became law
Where there's a will, there's a way - and in less than 24 hours, people claim to have already found a technique to get around the new age verification checks on porn sites.
When the clock struck midnight, the strict alterations surrounding how Brits access adult content came into force.
Industry titans, including Pornhub, Stripchat and Jerkmate, have all agreed to implement 'highly effective' age checks to verify the maturity of their users from today (25 July).
It's all part of the government's crackdown on X-rated content, which intends to prevent children from accessing pornography and other harmful stuff online.
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Simply clicking a button to confirm you are over the age of 18 is now a thing of the past, as porn sites have introduced a string of measures to make sure only adults can gain access.
People now have to jump through several hoops to get their rocks off, such as uploading a document which verifies their identity or sharing a snap of yourself to prove you are of age.
But according to social media users, there's a simple way to get around this - and one Reddit user claimed 'anyone with the most minimal of computing knowledge' can do it.
Loads of people online have been sharing their thoughts and own experiences of verifying their age in the hours since the new rules came in, and apparently, there's plenty of loopholes for people to take advantage of.
Ofcom, who is responsible for policing porn sites to make sure they comply, has already admitted there is no way to stop Brits from using virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent the age checks.
With a VPN, you can access parts of the internet which might be blocked in your region, as the service 'masks your IP address, and lets you sidestep website blocks and firewalls on the internet', according to Microsoft.
It can allow users to fool the software into thinking they are in another location, where these rules around getting onto porn sites aren't in force.
Reddit users reckon that this essentially makes the age verification process redundant, as people in the UK could simply use a VPN to gain access to adult content.
One person said: "This is how short sighted or technologically illiterate this country's government is. Absolutely kids will just use a VPN, or a seedy less legit website."
Another wrote: "VPN. Done. Its a non issue for anyone with the most minimal of computing knowledge.
"Ironically the most computer literate in our country, the younger ones, will know exactly what to do. Therefore an absolutely useless law."
While a third added: "The only people this will actually affect is the 50+ year olds lol."
People are already very riled up about the new rules - so much so, that a petition to 'Repeal the Online Safety Act' has already racked up more than 77,000 signatures.
Ofcom's group director for online safety, Oliver Griffiths, explained why the age verification process is so important, despite the supposed loopholes.
"Our research shows that these are not people that are out to find porn - it’s being served up to them in their feeds," he told The Sun. "And we think that these measures are going to have a really big impact in terms of dealing with that particular problem.
"There will be teenagers - dedicated teenagers - who want to find their way to porn, in the same way as people find ways to buy alcohol under 18. They will use VPNs. And actually, I think there’s a really important reflection here. It’s not just us, in terms of making life safer online.
"Parents having a view in terms of whether their kids have got a VPN, and using parental controls and having conversations, feels a really important part of the solution."
Despite concerns about what dark corners of the internet the new rules might lead people to, the UK's Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said he has 'high expectations' for them.
He urged the public to 'judge us by the impact we secure', while saying the changes will allow children to avoid growing up 'at the mercy of toxic algorithms'.
As well as age verification checks, the rules require platforms to ensure algorithms do not work to harm children by, for example, pushing such content on the likes of self harm and eating disorders towards them.
"I have very high expectations of the change that children will experience," Kyle told Sky News. "And let me just say this to parents and children, you will experience a different internet really, for the first time in from today, moving forward than you’ve had in the past. And that is a big step forward."
Websites which fail to comply could be hit with fines, or their website could even become unavailable in the UK through a court order, with the Technology Secretary warning that rule-breaking tech firms 'will be held to account'.
Topics: PornHub, UK News, Technology, Social Media
Olivia Burke