England’s Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has urged ministers to require age verification for virtual private networks, arguing the tools are becoming the main workaround children use to evade the UK’s new Online Safety Act. “It is absolutely a loophole that needs closing,” she told BBC Newsnight while publishing a report that recommends compelling VPN providers to install “highly effective age assurance” systems. The report, based on a survey of 16- to 21-year-olds, found 70 % had viewed pornography online before turning 18, with 58 % exposed to scenes depicting strangulation. De Souza warned that such content risks distorting young people’s perceptions of sexual behaviour and said the government should also consider banning depictions of violent sex acts. Age-verification rules for commercial pornography sites took effect on 25 July. Ofcom has since opened investigations into 34 major platforms that fail to block minors and can impose penalties of up to £18 million or 10 % of global turnover. Similarweb data show UK traffic to Pornhub fell 47 % in the nine days after the rules began, but VPN downloads briefly topped Apple’s App Store as users sought to bypass the checks. A government spokesperson said VPNs are “legal tools for adults” and there are no plans to ban them, but warned that services encouraging children to skirt the law could face “tough enforcement and heavy fines.” Privacy and cybersecurity experts cautioned that forcing age checks on encrypted services could undermine legitimate uses of VPNs, including corporate security and school access. Public sentiment appears to favour additional restrictions: a YouGov poll published on 19 August found 55 % of Britons support prohibiting under-18s from using VPNs, while 20 % oppose the idea. The debate adds a new flashpoint to the Online Safety Act, which is already drawing criticism from free-speech groups and sparking disputes with overseas platforms over its extraterritorial reach.