Pornhub users issued warning about ‘loophole’ after millions face major restrictions today
The new restrictions were rolled out in the UK today
Pornhub users have been warned about a ‘loophole’ after new online age restrictions came into force today across the UK.
For those not up to speed, people in the UK trying to access the site, along with other adult websites, will now have to undergo rigorous age verification checks.
Long gone are the days when you only needed to tick a box to confirm you are over 18 - from now, people will have to submit ID or have their face scanned, depending on what site they’re trying to get into.
In the UK, the regulator estimates that a whopping 14 million people watch online pornography.
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The reasoning behind the change is to stop children from accessing porn, as Ofcom has previously highlighted research which indicates that as many as eight percent of children aged eight-14 in the UK had visited an online porn site or app over a 28-day period.
And this worrying statistic includes around three percent of eight to nine-year-olds, the survey suggests.
Ofcom will oversee the enforcement and companies that don’t comply will be risking fines of up to £18 million or 10 percent of global turnover. However, as the new ‘robust’ checks come into effect, some social media users think they’ve spotted a loophole.
On a Facebook post about the changes, one user wrote: “VPN. You have no power here.”
While others added: “Correction, VPN required, problem solved,” and: “Simply download a VPN and you’re good.”
A VPN, or a virtual private network, is a legal way to securely connect one device to another using the internet, and it can extend access to a private network to users who do not have direct access to it.
For example, you can get around things that are blocked in your location - and people who aren’t so keen on sharing their ID seem to think it’s a way to get around the verifications.
However, according to Ofcom and the BBC, platforms must not host, share or permit content that encourages the use of VPNs to get around age checks and it will be illegal for them to do so.
Parents are advised to block VPN usage just in case, and an Aylo spokesperson - the parent company of Pornhub - told the BBC that the question of VPNs was an issue for governments.
They said: "We certainly do not recommend that anyone uses technology to bypass the law.”
And in a further statement about the new changes to Tyla, they added: “For years, Aylo has publicly called for effective and enforceable age assurance solutions that protect minors online, while ensuring the safety and privacy of all users. The United Kingdom is the first country to present these same priorities demonstrably.
They added: “Ofcom recognises the scale of the challenge ahead, and is approaching it with thorough consideration. Ofcom’s model is the most robust in terms of actual and meaningful protection we’ve seen to date…
“...We believe in Ofcom’s intent and ability to enforce compliance with the Online Safety Act. Without real enforcement, age assurance laws are meaningless, driving traffic to non-compliant sites and exposing users to dangerous content.”
The statement also said that keeping minors off adult sites is ‘a shared responsibility that requires a global solution’.
They explained: "It requires cooperation between government, tech platforms and adults. We want to be part of the solution and are hopeful that the UK model stands to set a strong precedent to that end."
Topics: UK News, Social Media, Sex and Relationships
Madison Burgess