VPN downloads surge as UK age-check rules block adult sites – & Government reveals whether ‘privacy apps' will be BANNED
VPN apps have skyrocketed since the Online Safety Act came into effect last week.
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It's designed to protect children from harmful material and is enforced by the media regulator Ofcom.
The tool is a common and legal way to disguise your location online for privacy.
Any sites hosting adult content must now check people's age by asking for their ID in a similar way to buying booze in the real world, or sharing a selfie which estimates how old you are.
Some users have resorted to using VPNs as a loophole, over concerns about sharing their personal data.
VPN apps have dominated the top of the Apple App Store since the rules kicked in on Friday.
But there have been questions about whether they could be banned as a result.
Tech Secretary Peter Kyle has revealed that the Government is "not considering a VPN ban".
Pointing to 6.2 million downloads of age verification software Yoti, he told Times Radio there were 'far more people who are actually there to prove their age in a legitimate way'.
"So you will find a small number of people who will use VPNs, most of them will be adults themselves," he said.
"But you will see now moving forward, a new online experience for children and parents.
Big changes come to PornHub and a dozen other XXX sites
"They will notice the difference.
"It is the biggest step forward in safety since the invention of the internet.
"When it comes to children, that is something we celebrate.
"Adults should get behind the aid verification system, because every time they do it, you keep a child safe."
The Labour minister also sparked a blazing row with Nigel Farage, alleging the Reform Party leader's vow to repeal online safety laws amounts to backing predators gaining access to children.
Some 6,000 porn sites started age checks on Friday.
Those that don't comply could be fined or banned completely from the UK.
THE SHOCKING STATS
Latest figures show the scale of adult content consumption online...
Ofcom stats:
Around 8% children aged 8-14 in the UK visited an online porn site or app in a month.
15% of 13–14-year-olds accessed online porn in a month.
Boys aged 13-14 are the most likely to visit a porn service, significantly more than girls the same age (19% vs 11%).
Our research tells us that around three in ten (29%) or 13.8m UK adults use porn online.
Pornhub is the most used site in the UK – Ofcom research says 18% (8.4m) visited it in one month.
Children's Commissioner stats:
Of the 64% who said that they had ever seen online pornography:
The average age at which children first see pornography is 13. By age nine, 10% had seen pornography, 27% had seen it by age 11 and half of children who had seen pornography had seen it by age 13.
We also find that young people are frequently exposed to violent pornography, depicting coercive, degrading or pain-inducing sex acts; 79% had encountered violent pornography before the age of 18.
Pornography is not confined to dedicated adult sites. We found that Twitter was the online platform where young people were most likely to have seen pornography.
Image credit: Getty
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