From scaling Komi Group & It’s Gone Viral to a new mission: Ryan T. Williams, a social media expert leveraging 10+ years of industry experience to educate and empower children in the digital world. Ryan is avaliable for comments on the new age verification on adult content websites, and the new UK online safety rules for Children’s Online Safety
As of today, July 25, 2025, the UK has implemented stricter age verification laws for adult entertainment websites, a significant move under the Online Safety Act. This aims to prevent children from accessing harmful content, a laudable goal that has long been sought by child protection advocates. However, the effectiveness of these measures hinges critically on their enforcement and the broader online ecosystem.
Ryan’s Core Argument: A Good Idea, But Policing is Key
Ryan’s perspective is insightful and aligns with many experts in the field: “It is a step in the right direction, and it is good that they are trying to tackle it, but some are not complying with it. What is important is how they are going to police it, making sure that they do actually commit to fining and banning the sites that are not abiding by these new rules.”
This highlights the perennial challenge with online regulation: legislation is only as powerful as its enforcement. Ofcom, the UK’s online safety regulator, now has significant powers, including fines of up to £18 million or 10% of a company’s global turnover, whichever is greater, and even the ability to block access to non-compliant sites in the UK. In the most severe cases, senior managers could face criminal liability. The commitment to consistently apply these penalties, making examples of non-compliant platforms, will be crucial in deterring others. Without adequate budget and dedicated teams for due diligence and enforcement, the regulations risk becoming a paper tiger.
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The VPN Challenge and Digital Loopholes
Ryan rightly identifies the immediate workaround: “VPN searches have spiked, but not everyone knows how to do a VPN.” This is a critical point. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) allow users to mask their location, making it appear as if they are Browse from a country where age verification laws are less stringent or non-existent. While Ofcom has stated that it will be illegal for platforms to encourage the use of VPNs to bypass age checks, the onus is largely on individual users to avoid them.
The “VPN fallacy” is a well-known issue in online age verification, where simply blocking access based on IP address is easily circumvented. For robust protection, more sophisticated geolocation technologies, akin to those used in regulated online gambling, might be necessary, combining GPS data, cell tower, and Wi-Fi data. The policing of VPN sites and sales themselves, as Ryan suggests, presents a complex international challenge, as many VPN providers operate globally. This highlights the inherent difficulty in regulating a borderless internet with national laws.
The Pervasive Influence of Social Media
Ryan’s comments about social media are particularly pertinent: “There need to also be a bigger push on social media sites banning profiles and content, as adult content is easily shared on platforms such as X / Twitter where ID would not be required. If nudity and adult content is not shown, it is still easy to find.”
The Online Safety Act extends its reach beyond dedicated adult websites to “user-to-user” services like social media platforms that are likely to be accessed by children. These platforms are now mandated to conduct children’s risk assessments and implement measures to protect children from harmful content, including pornography, self-harm, and eating disorder content. They are also required to enforce their age limits consistently and provide age-appropriate experiences.
However, the sheer volume of user-generated content on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit makes comprehensive policing a monumental task. While these platforms have community guidelines prohibiting explicit content and child sexual exploitation, the ease with which suggestive or implied adult content can be shared, often under the guise of “art” or “expression,” remains a significant loophole. Algorithms designed to maximize engagement can inadvertently amplify such content, making it readily discoverable by children even without explicit searches.
The Role of Mainstream Media and the Glorification of Adult Entertainment
Ryan touches on a crucial, often overlooked, aspect: “the mainstream media and news would have to stop reporting and glorifying these figures/influencers, although their content is behind a paywall or on an adult site, as soon as they do a stunt (Bonnie Blue for example) it is all over the headlines for children to read about.”
The case of Bonnie Blue exemplifies this. While her explicit content is behind paywalls or on adult platforms, her actions and persona are frequently covered by mainstream news outlets, inadvertently elevating her profile and making her known to a wider, including younger, audience. This normalisation and even sensationalisation of adult entertainers in mainstream discourse can desensitise children to the nature of their work and potentially influence their perceptions of success and aspirations. This raises ethical questions for media organisations about their responsibility in reporting on such figures, particularly when it comes to safeguarding minors.
Social Media’s Founding Principles and Societal Impact
Ryan’s observation that “Social media was created by teenage males and powerful men, so it is no coincidence that the likes of Bonnie Blue are being so glorified and promoted if the platform was created by males. The responsibility of tackling this content online would also lie in the hands of social media sites as they glorify sex work over education, which leave the suffragettes rolling in their graves” highlights a contentious but important perspective.
While the early creators of social media platforms may not have explicitly set out to “glorify sex work,” the design and initial philosophies of these platforms, often focused on open sharing and rapid virality, created an environment where certain types of content and individuals can quickly gain traction. The algorithmic amplification of engaging content, regardless of its suitability for all audiences, has inadvertently led to the widespread exposure of adult themes and personalities. The critique that social media can glorify sex work over education points to a broader societal concern about the values being implicitly promoted by these pervasive digital spaces. This underscores the need for platforms to actively consider the ethical implications of their design and algorithmic choices on societal norms and child development.
Conclusion: Technology and Enforcement in Tandem
In summary, Ryan’s conclusion remains robust: “the actual tech will be affective, but it is all about the policing; who looks after it, making sure they give fines out, making an example of people, and tackling social media sites and putting plans into place to control VPN sites which could then make it cross over to Europe.”
The new age verification technology for adult entertainment websites is a welcome addition to the arsenal of child protection measures. However, its success is fundamentally dependent on rigorous and consistent enforcement by Ofcom. Moreover, a truly effective strategy for safeguarding children online requires a multi-faceted approach: addressing the loopholes presented by VPNs, holding social media platforms accountable for the content they host and amplify, and a critical re-evaluation by mainstream media of their role in sensationalising adult entertainers. Without a concerted and sustained effort across all these fronts, the promise of a safer online environment for children will remain partially unfulfilled.
