In its valiant quest to protect children from the sometimes legitimate, other times frivolous horrors of the internet, the UK has rolled out a new set of online safety rules requiring age verification across platforms like Reddit, Bluesky, Discord, and Pornhub. There is a huge gaping hole in its logic, though: it hinges entirely on kids having no idea what a VPN is.

Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has mandated that platforms verify user age with “strong” and “highly effective” measures. What that’s actually meant in practice is an awkward mix of ID uploads, credit card checks, and face-scanning selfies. It’s all the digital equivalent of a nightclub bouncer squinting as they try to match the shrimpy teenage face before them with the adult face on the fake ID.

Most of these age verification systems rely on IP address checks. IP addresses are tied to a user’s physical location, meaning that VPNs, which mask location, can bypass all of it, and they aren’t exactly rare tools used only by hackers anymore. Damn near every popular YouTube channel and podcast has advertised a VPN at some point or another. What’s more, a lot of them are not only free but intuitive enough for even the most tech-illiterate person to operate.

The Verge reports that Reddit threads are already filling up with advice on bypasses, and a spike in UK Google searches for “VPN” suggests that a lot of people are about to find out just how easy it is to bypass these new-age restriction laws the government suddenly seems so eager to implement after not caring for 30 years.

As for the platforms themselves, they’re stuck in a weird limbo where they’re trying to comply with rules so they don’t get in trouble while users are ducking under the police tape because police tape, after all, is just a strip of yellow plastic that’s not really holding anybody back. It’s more of a stern suggestion, which is what all of these new-age restriction laws might end up being.

Lawmakers in England, and even here in the United States, are trying to childproof the internet but are quickly realizing that it’s a lot more difficult than just softening coffee table corners and covering power outlets.