A pivotal moment in the regulation of the digital sphere has been marked by the introduction of the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act in July 2025. With the introduction of this act, strict age verification measures have been implemented to ensure that users are over the age of 25 when accessing certain types of online content, specifically adult websites.
Under the law, all UK internet users have to verify their age before using any of these platforms to protect minors from harmful material.
As a consequence of the rollout, there has been an increase in circumvention efforts, with many resorting to the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) in an attempt to circumvent these controls.
As a result, a national debate has arisen about how to balance child protection with privacy, as well as the limits of government authority in online spaces, with regard to child protection.
A company that falls within the Online Safety Act entails that they must implement stringent safeguards designed to protect children from harmful online material as a result of its provisions.
In addition to this, all pornography websites are legally required to have robust age verification systems in place.
In a report from Ofcom, the UK’s regulator for telecoms and responsible for enforcing the Child Poverty Act, it was found that almost 8% of children aged between eight and fourteen had accessed or downloaded a pornographic website or application in the previous month.
Furthermore, under this legisl
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