Users have rapidly found a method to circumvent the age verification system established by the UK Online Safety Act.
According to PC Gamer, it took just 24 hours after the law went into effect for someone to circumvent Discord’s age restrictions. The tactic involved the use of a selfie of Sam Porter Bridges, a character from the game Death Stranding, portrayed by Norman Reedus. User DanySterkov on X discovered that this image could effectively grant access to Discord’s adult-only channels.
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PC Gamer verified the method and confirmed that a selfie of Sam Porter Bridges could indeed “confirm their age.”
UK Reddit users are now required to upload selfies to gain access to NSFW subreddits
The UK Online Safety Act, which came into force last Friday, requires platforms such as Reddit, Discord, and Pornhub to implement age verification for adult content. The objective of the law is to prevent users under 18 from accessing this content. Detractors contend that the law presents privacy concerns by collecting personal information and may not be particularly effective, as there are alternatives like VPNs available.
Discord offers two age verification methods for users in the UK: ID verification or submitting a photo for age assessment. The latter method enables users to easily work around the system. As one Redditor humorously stated, “60% of the UK population is now Norman Reedus.”