A new report has revealed that children in the UK are drawing on fake moustaches and using false birthdays to bypass age verification measures on social media and gaming platforms. The study, conducted by online safety organisation Internet Matters, found that more than a third of children have circumvented age gates implemented under the Online Safety Act.
The report surveyed 1,000 UK children and discovered that 46% believe age checks are easy to bypass, with 32% admitting to having done so. One in six parents confessed to helping their child get past age verification, and some reported catching their children drawing on facial hair to trick the technology. One mother said: “I did catch my son using an eyebrow pencil to draw a moustache on his face, and it verified him as 15 years old.”
Under the Online Safety Act, social media platforms must require users to be at least 13, while pornographic sites must verify users are over 18. However, the report indicates that these measures are often ineffective. Around half of children said they had recently been asked to verify their age, and 49% reported encountering harmful content online.
The report acknowledged that the Online Safety Act is “beginning to shape children’s online environments for the better” but called on the government to enforce the law more rigorously. It stated: “Children continue to encounter harmful content at unacceptable rates, while age verification measures are often ineffective in practice or easy to bypass.”
A Department for Science, Innovation and Technology spokesperson said the law is “crystal clear” and that companies must stop “turning a blind eye” to children’s exposure to harm. The government is consulting on further measures, including age limits, safer design features, and a potential social media ban for under-16s.
An Ofcom spokesperson added: “This report underlines why the Online Safety Act matters. Weak or easily bypassed age checks are not good enough. We’ve challenged the biggest services in the world to do more to protect children, and won’t hesitate to act where they fall short.”
