LAST UPDATE: AUGUST 14TH

Quick Background

What is it?

Since 2017, the UK and Australia have sought out to implement age checks to restrict social media access for individuals under 16 years old. These measures, or at least what the bills says on paper, are in place to stop underaged children from accessing NSFW/ NSFL content online. Both these bills have been controversial within their respective countries, but last year, while the people of these countries were unaware, UK and Australia passed these bills with bipartisan support.

The UK has officially started enforcing these measures on July 25th, 2025. Every company and platform that falls under the scope of this bill must comply or cease their serivces. One of the companies that could not provide this kind of service is Spacehey.

What do the bills contain?

The bills state that, to access age-restricted material, a person must prove their age identity by providing one of the following:

Porn sites, social media and search engines must either comply or cease their operation in the regions.

How can I oppose this?

If you are a UK citizen, please go here and sign this petition. Educate the people in your life about online privacy and what happens when we relinquish it. Privacy is one of the most important rights we have as citizens, and relinquishing it in any capacity, especially during such a volatile time in our history, is an incredibly destructive long-term decision that will bring about years upon years of issues.

BYPASSING THE BAN

VPNs

To bypass the age verification bans, you can use a VPN. Paid VPNs are best, but if you cannot afford one, a free VPN can be used, although not recommended. This Google Doc lists all the reputable VPNs by their reliability.

A list of my personal favorites:

PROXIES

Another way to bypass these restrictions is to use a proxy. This option only exists if you can pay for it. Here is a list of proxies available for purchase. The viability of these proxies in the UK/ Australia today is unknown.

TOR/ THE ONION ROUTER

The last option, and undoubtedly the most reliable, is to install TOR. It is a browser that lets you access the .onion domain network. It automatically masks your IP and bounces it off multiple other servers to keep you anonymous. Using TOR is perfectly legal within the UK and Australia if it's not used for obtaining or looking at illegal material (drugs/ weapons/ child pornography/ doxxing/ identity fraud).

Click here to download Tor.

SOURCES