Australia's online safety regulator, eSafety, has announced it will assess whether adult websites are allowing users to bypass the country's new age verification restrictions using virtual private networks (VPNs). The move follows the introduction of age verification codes in March, which require adult sites, AI companion chatbots, and app stores to implement measures blocking under-18s from accessing pornography, extremely violent material, or self-harm content.
Compliance of top 30 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 adult sites visited by Australians. The regulator contacted 26 of these sites that lacked age assurance, prompting several to add age 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 later removed pornographic content from its free version, now requiring a paid subscription as a form of age verification.
VPN workarounds under scrutiny
eSafety acknowledged concerns that 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."
In March, Guardian Australia reported a surge in Australian users downloading VPN apps to bypass restrictions. A VPN allows users to appear as if they are in a different location, potentially outside Australia and thus not subject to the age verification requirements. eSafety noted in the documents that 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."
Under the codes, sites "must take reasonable steps" to prevent workarounds like VPNs, similar to expectations for social media companies under the under-16s ban. eSafety said it "will look at this when considering compliance."
Comparison with UK and other platforms
As the UK prepares to implement its own social media ban, officials have suggested regulating VPNs, including requiring age checks for users. Australia, however, has so far focused on ensuring platforms detect VPN use.
In October last year, Senator Fatima Payman questioned eSafety about why 4chan was not included in the social media ban. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant described 4chan as "one of the darker sites on the web" but noted it had not been assessed. The documents explain 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. "4chan site visits are ~98% lower than Facebook and Reddit," eSafety said.
