Nine in ten of the most-visited adult sites used by Australians now run age checks, according to reporting on the eSafety Commission's compliance push. The identity-verification regime already won. The regulator is not satisfied. eSafety has told covered platforms they "must take reasonable steps" to stop VPN workarounds, and the agency says it "will look at this when considering compliance." In eSafety's framing, a VPN is a compliance failure the platform is expected to close.
Age verification laws were sold as a way to keep kids off adult content and social media. The mechanism required to do that is identity verification, not age verification. Mullvad, the VPN provider, put it plainly. Age verification "as it is implemented today is therefore identity verification," and once it is in place, "freedom of information is restricted" because you can no longer visit regulated websites anonymously. That was true the day these laws passed. eSafety targeting VPNs confirms it was the plan all along.
Australia already ran this experiment once with its under-16 social media ban, a policy widely mocked as an abject failure at actually keeping minors off platforms while doing real damage to anyone who wanted to use the internet without handing over an ID. VPN use surged in response, the same pattern seen anywhere age-gating laws pass. Regulators call this circumvention. It is the predictable result of forcing a choice between submitting to an identity check or routing around it. eSafety is trying to close the escape route instead of rethinking the identity-check model.
Age verification providers are pushing the same direction from the industry side. Iain Corby, who represents a trade association for age verification vendors, has floated punishing parents who help their kids bypass age checks. Once the system depends on everyone being traceable, anyone who helps someone stay untraceable becomes a target too. A VPN does exactly that. It stops your traffic, your IP address, and your browsing habits from being tied to your identity at all, for anyone, for any reason, not just minors dodging age checks.
Telling platforms to block VPN traffic does not just affect people trying to access adult content. It pressures every site under these rules to fingerprint connections, flag VPN and proxy IP ranges, and treat privacy tools as a red flag rather than a normal way to browse. Age verification created the justification. VPN blocking is the enforcement layer that makes the identity system harder to escape.
Blackout VPN exists because privacy is a right. Your first name is too much information for us.
Keep learning
FAQ
What is eSafety asking platforms to do about VPNs
The eSafety Commission says covered sites must take reasonable steps to stop people using VPNs to bypass Australia's age verification requirements, and will factor this into compliance assessments.
Does this mean VPNs will be banned in Australia
No law bans VPNs outright. The pressure is on platforms to detect and block VPN traffic as part of age check compliance, which has the same practical effect for anyone trying to browse without being identified.
Why does a VPN matter if age verification is just about checking age
Age verification systems in use today confirm identity, not just age, which means anonymous browsing ends the moment a site adopts them. A VPN is one of the few remaining ways to avoid being tied to that identity check.
Did Australia's under-16 social media ban work
Reporting has described it as an abject failure at actually keeping minors off platforms, while pushing more users toward VPNs to route around the restrictions.
Who is pushing for stricter enforcement against VPN circumvention
Age verification industry representatives, including trade association figures like Iain Corby, have pushed for stronger enforcement, up to and including punishing parents who help children bypass age checks.