In the past, companies would verify the ages of users based on the birthdate they enter. It was hardly foolproof, as anyone could enter any date of birth they wanted. But that’s changing. More companies are implementing more advanced age verification tools, but in response, it seems that there is a spike in VPN downloads as well.
VPN downloads spike following age verification implementation
In a report from Cybernews, the company tracked Reddit posts discussing age verification and found some interesting patterns. This includes an increase in talks about bypassing these checks, as well as an increase in VPN downloads to potentially bypass these age verification systems.
Reddit posts about bypassing age verification jumped from one thread in May 2025 to 65 threads in April 2026. That’s 241 total discussions over the full period. It also appears that two events drove the sharpest spikes. The first was when the UK’s Online Safety Act took effect on July 25, 2025; Reddit bypass comments shot up 460% month over month. VPN downloads in the UK hit 2 million in August alone. Monthly UK downloads stayed above 1 million for most of the months that followed. .
The second major spike came when Australia enforced age checks for adult content in March 2026. Reddit bypass comments rose 47% that month, and VPN installs nearly tripled, topping 871,000.
Adult content prompted VPN downloads
What’s also interesting and somewhat telling is what actually spurred the increase of VPN downloads. When Australia banned social media for under-16s on December 10, 2025, VPN activity barely moved. It took adult content enforcement in March 2026 to produce a big surge. So the VPN downloads age verification link is tightest around adult content restrictions, not social media bans.
According to Cybernews senior security researcher Aras Nazarovas, it’s not only minors driving the VPN downloads’ age verification spike. Privacy concerns are a major factor too. Adults who don’t want to hand over a government ID or submit to a facial scan are opting for VPNs instead of complying.
Nazarovas said, “As long as these methods remain so privacy-invasive while bypass techniques remain widely accessible, these laws are unlikely to achieve their intended effect.”
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