Browsing Adult Content – It’s Getting Harder

Australia's online age verification experiment has entered a new phase, and it's proving just how difficult it is to police the internet.

According to Australia's eSafety Commissioner, around 90 per cent of the most popular adult websites now have age verification checks in place for Australian users. That means if you want to access adult content, you're increasingly being asked to prove you're over 18 using methods such as facial age estimation, digital identity services or other approved verification systems.

But here's the catch. The watchdog is now investigating whether people are simply using VPNs – Virtual Private Networks – to bypass those restrictions by making it appear they're browsing from another country.

This creates an interesting debate. VPNs aren't illegal, and millions of Australians use them every day for perfectly legitimate reasons, from protecting their privacy on public Wi-Fi to securing business connections or accessing content while travelling. The concern is whether governments should target the tool itself or simply accept that determined users will always find a workaround.

It also highlights a broader truth about technology. Every time a digital barrier is introduced, someone immediately starts looking for a way around it. It's the classic cat-and-mouse game between regulators and technology, and history suggests the technology usually evolves faster than the rules.