{"id":1926498,"date":"2026-05-08T20:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1926498"},"modified":"2026-05-08T20:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:50:23","slug":"eu-calls-vpns-a-loophole-that-needs-closing-in-age-verification-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1926498","title":{"rendered":"EU Calls VPNs a \u2018Loophole\u2019 that \u2018Needs Closing\u2019 in Age Verification Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Watch-Porn-in-Missouri-Without-Age-Verification-1200×675.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Earlier this year, the European Union introduced an application meant to verify the age and identity of citizens accessing the internet as part of an effort to keep underage users off social media. Turns out there\u2019s a slight crack in that otherwise fool-proof approach to verification: VPNs. Now it appears the bloc of nations wants to patch up that hole.<\/p>\n

CyberInsider first reported\u00a0that the European Parliamentary Research Service, part of the European Parliament, has issued a warning about virtual private networks, which allow users to bypass age assurance requirements by spoofing their location to be outside of the EU. In a statement, the agency called VPNs \u201ca loophole in the legislation that needs closing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EPRS doesn\u2019t have a solution for the problem that VPNs offer users a workaround for age verification laws, though it does recognize that one proposed option would be to make VPNs only accessible to users who are verified to be over the age of 18\u2014an approach that the Children\u2019s Commissioner for England has called for in the UK.<\/p>\n

Instead, the agency mostly acknowledges that VPNs are a real thorn in its side. It observed that VPN usage has significantly increased in places that have enacted age-verification requirements. One VPN provider, Proton VPN, reported a 1400% increase in new signups after the UK\u2019s age-assurance law went into effect last year. A similar trend emerged in France when the country cut off access to Pornhub to anyone under the age of 18. Basically, when age-verification laws go into effect, people flock to the most well-known tool for dodging them.<\/p>\n

The European Union isn\u2019t the only place that has picked up on this problem. Earlier this month, a law went into effect in Utah that\u2019s designed to discourage the use of VPNs by declaring that a person is considered to be accessing a website from Utah if they are physically located in the state, and would therefore be subject to age-verification requirements. There are significant questions as to how enforceable that law will be. In Wisconsin, an age-requirement law that was ultimately vetoed by the governor initially included a ban on the use of VPNs.<\/p>\n

It certainly seems that lawmakers are aware that VPNs have become a reliable tool for bypassing their attempts at age-gating the internet. It seems likely that more governing bodies will look for ways to restrict access to the privacy tool in the near future.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: \u2018Death Stranding\u2019 Is Helping UK Users Bypass Age Verification Laws<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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Earlier this year, the European Union introduced an application meant to verify the age and identity of citizens accessing the internet as part of an effort to keep underage users off social media. Turns out there\u2019s a slight crack in that otherwise fool-proof approach to verification: VPNs. Now it appears the bloc of nations wants to patch up that hole.<\/p>\n

CyberInsider first reported\u00a0that the European Parliamentary Research Service, part of the European Parliament, has issued a warning about virtual private networks, which allow users to bypass age assurance requirements by spoofing their location to be outside of the EU. In a statement, the agency called VPNs \u201ca loophole in the legislation that needs closing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EPRS doesn\u2019t have a solution for the problem that VPNs offer users a workaround for age verification laws, though it does recognize that one proposed option would be to make VPNs only accessible to users who are verified to be over the age of 18\u2014an approach that the Children\u2019s Commissioner for England has called for in the UK.<\/p>\n

Instead, the agency mostly acknowledges that VPNs are a real thorn in its side. It observed that VPN usage has significantly increased in places that have enacted age-verification requirements. One VPN provider, Proton VPN, reported a 1400% increase in new signups after the UK\u2019s age-assurance law went into effect last year. A similar trend emerged in France when the country cut off access to Pornhub to anyone under the age of 18. Basically, when age-verification laws go into effect, people flock to the most well-known tool for dodging them.<\/p>\n

The European Union isn\u2019t the only place that has picked up on this problem. Earlier this month, a law went into effect in Utah that\u2019s designed to discourage the use of VPNs by declaring that a person is considered to be accessing a website from Utah if they are physically located in the state, and would therefore be subject to age-verification requirements. There are significant questions as to how enforceable that law will be. In Wisconsin, an age-requirement law that was ultimately vetoed by the governor initially included a ban on the use of VPNs.<\/p>\n

It certainly seems that lawmakers are aware that VPNs have become a reliable tool for bypassing their attempts at age-gating the internet. It seems likely that more governing bodies will look for ways to restrict access to the privacy tool in the near future.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: \u2018Death Stranding\u2019 Is Helping UK Users Bypass Age Verification Laws<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Watch-Porn-in-Missouri-Without-Age-Verification-1200×675.jpg”] Earlier this year, the European Union introduced an application meant to verify the age and identity of citizens accessing the internet as part of an effort to keep underage users off social media. Turns out there\u2019s a slight crack in that otherwise fool-proof approach to verification: VPNs. Now it appears the bloc […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,53],"class_list":["post-1926498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-gizmodo-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1926498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1926498\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1926498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1926498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1926498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}