Government urged to add age restrictions to VPNs to ‘close porn loophole’

The children's commissioner warned the Government that children will try to bypass new laws.

This comes as the children's commissioner warned the Government that children will try to bypass the newly implemented laws.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Dame Rachel de Souza said it was 'absolutely a loophole that needs closing' and called for age verification on VPNs.

VPNs are used to disguise or change your online location, which allows you to surf the web as if you were in another country.

This means that the VPNs can be used to bypass requirements of the Online Safety Act, which was introduced to mandate adult content platforms.

A government spokesperson stated that VPNs are legal tools for adults and that they have no plans to ban them.

A recommendation by the children's commissioner is included in a new report, which found the number of children saying they have seen pornography online has risen in the last two years.

Last month in the UK, VPNs were the most downloaded apps on Apple's App Store after sites such as PornHub, Reddit and X began requiring age verification.

VPNs connect users to websites via a remote server that conceals their actual IP address and location. This means users can circumvent blocks on particular sites and content.

Dame Rachel added to BBC Newsnight: "Of course, we need age verification on VPNs - it's absolutely a loophole that needs closing and that's one of my major recommendations."

She continued to say that she wants ministers to explore requiring VPNs 'to implement highly effective age assurances to stop underage users from accessing pornography.'