Ethical hackers have shown Sky News how new age verification systems can be bypassed on pornographic websites in a matter of seconds.
On Friday, toughened rules came into force that mean companies hosting adult content online must block under-18s using “highly effective age verification”.
That could include AI tools that use pictures to estimate someone’s age, bank or ID checks, or more technical solutions using browser cookies.
But hours later, two ethical hackers demonstrated just how simple it is to get around the measures designed to protect young people on the internet.
Using widely available technology, Chris Kubecka and Paula Popovici quickly accessed numerous pornography sites without ever verifying their ages.
Their devices were running standard software, and the tricks they used were simple.
This, Ms Kubecka said, showed the systems will not be effective at stopping under-18s from accessing explicit content online.
The simplicity of their method was confirmed by multiple viewers, who contacted Sky News to say they had also managed to bypass the systems.
One viewer said it had taken him “less than 30 seconds”.
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Although Sky News has verified the methods used by Ms Kubecka and Ms Popovici, we won’t give details or name any software used.
Some of the explicit websites they checked had not turned on any age verification, despite declaring in June that they would.
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