Some kids bypass age verification checks with a fake moustache

Some age verification systems are no match for enterprising kids, who have found that drawing on a fake mustache with a make-up pencil is enough to bypass adult site blocks.

UK based NGO Internet Topics asked a thousand children about age verification checks online and about half said age checks were easy to bypass.

“Children showed a clear awareness of how to circumvent age checks, either through their own experiences or hearing about methods from others,” the report says.

“One technique that was developed was for children to draw facial hair so that the tools verifying it would think they were bigger, which was reported to work in many cases,” he added.

Age verification laws are still in place around the world, often under the guise of keeping children safe online, but requiring adults to prove their age, usually by uploading a copy of their driver’s license or passport to a third party before being allowed on an adult site. Critics say these laws allow the creation of databases that can be hacked or leaked, and threaten the open and decentralized internet.

Half of the US states have some form of age control law, as does the UK, which has driven much of the global effort.

Therefore, companies like Apple have released software updates to device owners to comply with the growing number of age verification laws. Web companies like Reddit and Meta use a combination of requiring users to upload government-issued documents and creepy guesses that involve algorithmically guessing a person’s age. Others, like Discord, have had their launches delayed due to user backlash and security issues.

This isn’t the first known loophole that kids have figured out in recent months following the rise of age verification checks. Some children have I establish who point their camera at adult-like characters in video games it worked tooor in other cases, simply pulling dark or funny faces was enough to bypass the checks altogether.