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Pornhub will allow children to watch porn on their smartphones and bypass UK law using a new app

Using the app, called VPNhub, underage users can use any of Pornhub’s servers to bypass controls put in by UK internet service providers - PA
Using the app, called VPNhub, underage users can use any of Pornhub’s servers to bypass controls put in by UK internet service providers - PA

Pornhub has launched an app which could allow children to watch pornography on their smartphones and bypass new UK digital safety laws.

The app lets users connect to a “private network” on the company’s servers, which changes their online location, so they will not need to sign up for age-verification to prove they are over 18-years-old, to comply with the new digital economy bill which was brought into legislation last year.

Experts say this will be the “adult magazine tucked under the mattress” of the next generation as more and more teenagers and children use this “significant loophole” to get around online safety laws.

By December, all pornography sites accessible from the UK will be required to carry age-verification of its visitors under the Digital Economy Act, to prevent children from accessing inappropriate content online.  

Pornography websites that fail to introduce the checks face being blocked by broadband providers.

However, using the app, called VPNhub, underage users can use any of Pornhub’s 1,000 servers located in 15 countries to bypass controls put in by UK internet service providers. It will also mean their online activity is harder to trace and encrypted.

Porn: Our children are obsessed - but not for the reasons you think
Porn: Our children are obsessed - but not for the reasons you think

The new service utilises a controversial tool called a VPN, or Virtual Private Network, which anyone can can connect to with a regular internet connection.

Tom Guida, Head of Media and Entertainment at law firm Fieldfisher, said: “So this problem of online access to porn by under-18s is something that many countries have struggled with.

“Anyone of an older generation who had an adult magazine smuggled from their parents' room tucked under their mattress will know that there are always workarounds.

“This law uses a flawed technical solution to invade what most individuals think of as his or her personal space. This creates a huge incentive to avoid the law, and the use of VPNs located overseas is inevitable.”

Technology intelligence - newsletter promo - EOA
Technology intelligence - newsletter promo - EOA

Pornhub say they produced the new app as part of their “ongoing effort to continue to ensure the security and privacy of users”. Their announcement follows the company revealing they will use the anonymity-focused cryptocurrency Verge, which allows for anonymous transactions.

Robin Tombs, chief executive of online encryption business Yoti, said: “The BBFC and the industry understands that a certain percentage of adults and older teenagers will try using VPNs to access adult content.

“The purpose of the Digital Economy Act is particularly to prevent the majority of younger children stumbling across, or easily accessing, adult material.”

Pornhub have been contacted for comment.