"Unsurprisingly, VPN usage has surged in response. A VPN, or virtual private network, masks your internet traffic and spoofs your location. You probably know about it as a way to bypass region-locked content on streaming platforms like Netflix. You can't access Bluesky if your internet traffic is coming from Mississippi, but with a VPN, your traffic could be coming from a different state or country."
"The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says VPNs aren't a solution. They aren't. Although VPNs provide a fix for circumventing age-verification laws, they aren't foolproof. I'm going to run down what VPNs can (and can't) do to mask your online identity, as well as the state of the laws on the books and how they interact with VPN providers."
Age-verification laws are proliferating globally and many online platforms face compliance challenges. Impacts extend beyond adult sites: Bluesky shut down service in Mississippi, Mastodon may follow, Steam requires UK age verification for mature games, and Discord requires photo verification in the UK. VPN usage has increased because VPNs mask internet traffic and can spoof location, enabling users to access region-restricted services or bypass local age checks. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and privacy advocates caution that VPNs are not a complete solution, as they can circumvent checks but remain imperfect and pose privacy and legal complexities. Pornhub supports age verification if implemented correctly.
Read at WIRED
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