Soaring VPN Usage Amid Age Verification Laws: A Potential Threat to the Open Internet

In the wake of the enactment of the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act on Friday, which mandates the implementation of age verification mechanisms for pornography platforms and other adult content websites, there has been a significant surge in the utilization of virtual private networks (VPNs) and other circumvention tools within the UK over the weekend. This trend suggests that some users may be employing these tools to bypass the newly implemented age verification requirements.