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BBC Newsnight has reported that the children’s commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza, is calling for the government to take action against children using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass age checks on pornographic websites. VPNs allow users to disguise their online location, making it possible to access the internet as if they are in another country. This loophole in the Online Safety Act, which requires platforms to verify the age of users accessing certain adult content, needs to be addressed according to Dame Rachel.
In a new report, the children’s commissioner highlighted a rise in the number of children who have seen pornography online in the past two years. Last month, VPNs became the most downloaded apps on Apple’s App Store in the UK due to age verification requirements on sites like PornHub, Reddit, and X. Dame Rachel emphasized the need for age verification on VPNs to prevent underage users from accessing inappropriate content.
The report revealed that more children are accidentally coming across pornography, with some as young as six years old viewing explicit material. Additionally, the survey showed that a significant number of respondents had been exposed to harmful content like strangulation and rape as children. Dame Rachel urged the government to consider banning such depictions and stressed the importance of addressing the design of platforms and algorithms that expose children to harmful content.
Josh Lane, who struggled with a porn addiction from a young age, shared his experience of isolation and shame associated with his addiction. He emphasized the lasting impact of porn addiction and the need for robust safeguards to prevent children from accessing harmful sexual content online. Kerry Smith, CEO of the Internet Watch Foundation, highlighted the link between exposure to extreme sexual imagery and sexual violence, emphasizing the importance of taking the issue seriously
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