Overview

• Ofcom has opened investigations into four companies operating 34 pornographic websites and can impose fines up to £18 million or block non-compliant platforms
• The Age Verification Providers Association reports five million additional daily checks since July 25 under the Online Safety Act
• Proton VPN daily sign-ups in the UK have surged by 1800 percent as users turn to VPNs to bypass age-verification rules
• A petition demanding repeal of the age-verification mandate has reached 465,000 signatures, triggering a parliamentary review
• The European Commission plans to launch an open-source age-verification app via the EUDI-Wallet initiative by summer 2025