Virtual private network apps have skyrocketed up the app charts in Australia after a number of adult sites began blocking Australian users in compliance with new online safety codes in effect from Monday.
VPN Super Unlimited Proxy moved from 40th in free iPhone apps in Australia on 2 March to 7th place as of Sunday, according to the most recent data from Sensor Tower. Proton VPN moved from 174th to 19th, and NordVPN went from 189th to 13th.
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VPN apps allow a user’s location to appear as somewhere other than where they reside, meaning users trying to access adult sites could use the apps to appear as being outside Australia, to gain access to the sites.
On Friday, Guardian Australia reported Aylo-owned sites including RedTube, YouPorn, and Tube8 all had notices on their sites when visited from an Australian IP address, stating they are “not currently accepting new account registrations in your region”.
As of Monday, the largest porn site in the world, Pornhub, which is also owned by Aylo, only displayed safe-for-work content on its home page for Australian users who had not logged in.
From Monday, adult sites and a range of other services, including AI companion chatbots and app stores, are required to implement age verification for users attempting to access pornography, extremely violent material or self-harm content.
The Australian online safety regulator has warned platforms that are not in compliance with the codes could face fines of up to $49.5m for each breach.
The codes also extend to social media sites where adult content is allowed.
On Elon Musk’s X, users in Australia reported on the weekend that they were being asked to verify their age each time they viewed a post on the social media platform containing adult content.
The platform’s regulatory policies for Australia page states the age verification method used is similar to that which it uses for complying with Australia’s under-16s social media ban. That includes a mix of checks based on the age of the account, signals on account behaviour, and facial age tools for those accounts the platform can’t confirm to be over 18.
Grok, X’s AI chatbot, has also prevented accounts from generating restricted content in Australia until they pass an age check.
X was approached for comment.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, told ABC’s RN Breakfast that platforms with adult content need to be verifying user ages.
“If you are a platform that has R18 or X+ content, you should be age verifying,” she said.
“Just having a button you toggle that says: ‘Are you over 18?’ will no longer pass muster… there needs to be more rigour behind that.”
Electronic Frontiers Australia chair, John Pane, said the boost in VPN apps’ popularity was expected.
“Not surprised. I would have put money on it for sure,” Pane said.
“It’s exactly the same experience that happened in Australia with the introduction of the flawed social media ban… but also it’s been the online behaviour that’s been reflected in every single other jurisdiction around the world that has introduced age gating legislation to prevent access to online adult content.”
In the first week of the UK launching a similar age verification system for adult sites last year, four of the top five downloaded apps in the Apple app store were virtual private network (VPN) apps, with Proton reporting an 1,800% increase in downloads of its VPN app.
The UK government subsequently urged people not to use VPNs.
Pane urged people looking to use VPNs to check closely on what data the app might collect, noting some VPN providers that are free or provide a discount could examine users’ data and then sell the data to make money.
The three apps that have gained popularity in Australia include both free and subscription models – but all promise not to collect users’ data.
