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The UK's landmark Online Safety Act, which officially took effect on Friday, mandates that websites hosting pornographic, self-harm, suicide, and eating disorder content implement "highly effective" age verification mechanisms for UK visitors. Methods range from uploading government ID with a selfie to sophisticated digital age estimation. The immediate and dramatic consequence? A massive surge in UK-based citizens seeking digital anonymity tools.

VPN providers reported staggering spikes almost immediately. Proton VPN saw UK sign-ups jump 1,400% within minutes of the law activating, later stabilizing at an 1,800% daily increase. Nord Security reported a 1,000% increase in UK subscriptions, while AdGuard VPN noted a 2.5X rise in UK installs. Sensor Tower data confirmed the trend, revealing five VPN apps rocketing into the UK App Store's top 10 free apps, with iOS downloads up an average of 100% day-over-day.

"Whenever a government announces an increase in surveillance, internet restrictions, or other types of constraints, people turn to privacy tools," stated Laura Tyrylyte, Head of Public Relations at Nord Security.

This predictable yet significant response echoes patterns observed in countries with strict internet censorship, like China or Iran. Beyond VPNs, users demonstrated remarkably creative workarounds, including reportedly using the Death Stranding video game's photo mode to generate fictional selfies for verification. While regulators highlight progress—over 6,600 porn sites and platforms like Reddit, X, and Bluesky implementing checks—digital rights advocates warn of deeper consequences.

Daniel Kahn Gillmor, Senior Staff Technologist at the ACLU, criticized the reliance on technological fixes:

"We do know that there are some things that you can do to help kids have a better relationship with digital tools... involving social support networks and emotional relationships with responsive adults. But instead what we’re looking for is a quick technological fix, and those technological fixes have consequences."

The core concern is normalization. Mandating intrusive age verification for specific content categories today lays the groundwork for broader application tomorrow. Governments face a dilemma: either compel platforms to enforce checks globally (ignoring jurisdiction) or tacitly accept widespread circumvention. As Gillmor notes, this inevitably positions governments against censorship-circumvention tools—a stance fundamentally at odds with principles of an open internet historically championed by nations like the US and UK. This UK law isn't an isolated event; it's a bellwether for a global push towards age verification, forcing a critical examination of where the line between protection and pervasive digital surveillance truly lies.

Source: WIRED