Australia's online safety regulator, eSafety, has announced it will assess whether adult websites are enabling users to bypass new age verification restrictions using virtual private networks (VPNs). The move comes after new codes introduced in March required adult sites, along with other services like AI companion chatbots and app stores, to implement age verification for users attempting to access pornography, extremely violent material, or self-harm content, aiming to block under-18s from access.
Age Checks on Top Adult Sites
According to briefing documents prepared for May's Senate estimates hearings and released under freedom of information laws this week, eSafety has been monitoring compliance of the top 30 sites visited by Australians. The regulator contacted 26 of these sites that did not have age assurance in place, leading to some adding the checks. The documents reveal that approximately "90% of the most-visited pornography sites by Australians in 2025 have introduced age assurance at the 18+ threshold."
Aylo, the parent company of popular adult sites including Pornhub, initially blocked access for Australian users but has since removed pornographic content from the free version of its sites. Australians can now only access pornography on Aylo sites by paying for a subscription, which serves as a form of age check.
VPN Bypass Concerns
Guardian Australia reported in March a surge in Australian users downloading VPN apps to bypass the restrictions. A VPN allows a user to appear to a site to be in a different location, potentially outside Australia and not subject to the requirements. eSafety said in the documents it had not "observed peaks in VPN downloads that would solely account for the drop in user numbers across the top 5 services in particular."
The regulator noted that similar to expectations for social media companies under the under-16s ban, sites "must take reasonable steps" to prevent workarounds like VPNs. eSafety "will look at this when considering compliance."
No Evidence of Traffic Migration
eSafety said it was monitoring whether users might migrate to sites without age controls but stated that "based on data available to date, there is no evidence of traffic consolidation or migration to a single service beyond the top five sites." The regulator added, "They are still the biggest sources of online pornography in Australia."
Comparison with UK and 4chan Exclusion
As the UK prepares to follow Australia with its own social media ban, officials last month suggested VPNs could be regulated, including requiring age checks for users. Australia has so far limited its focus on VPNs to ensuring platforms detect their use.
In October last year, Senator Fatima Payman raised questions about why 4chan was not included in the social media ban. eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant called 4chan "one of the darker sites on the web" but said it had not been assessed. The documents reveal that as of 30 April 2026, 4chan received 25.3 million site visits from Australian users in the preceding 12 months, compared to Facebook's 2 billion and Reddit's 1.8 billion. eSafety stated, "4chan site visits are ~98% lower than Facebook and Reddit."
