Some kids are bypassing age verification checks with a fake mustache
6:49 AM PDT · May 6, 2026
Some age verification systems are no match for enterprising children, who have found that drawing on a fake mustache with a makeup pencil is enough to skirt the blocks of adult websites.
U.K.-based nonprofit Internet Matters surveyed a thousand children about age verification checks online, and about half said that age checks were easy to bypass.
“Children demonstrated a clear awareness of how to bypass age checks, either through their own experiences or by hearing about methods from others,” the report says.
“One technique brought up was children drawing facial hair on themselves so that the tools verifying them would think they were older, which was reported as working in multiple instances,” it added.
Age verification laws continue to roll out around the world, often under the guise of online child safety, but whereby adults are required to prove their age, typically...
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