Children are applying makeup to circumvent online age verification systems, as one mother discovered when she caught her son drawing a mustache with an eyebrow pencil

(SeaPRwire) –   In the past, people would use expired licenses or apply makeup to try and sneak into bars or venues that required being 18 or older. Today, in 2026, children are doing the same thing—just for a different kind of venue: the internet.

A recent report from Internet Matters found that one-third of U.K. children have managed to bypass age verification systems designed to keep them safe online. Some have even resorted to creative methods, such as drawing facial hair on themselves, to trick age-estimation technology.

The report, The Online Safety Act: Are Children Safer Online?, published by Britain’s leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to online child safety, evaluates the early effects of the U.K.’s Online Safety Act on families. Although new safety features are becoming more visible across children’s digital spaces, the enforcement mechanisms are widely regarded as inadequate and easy to circumvent. Nearly half of all children say they have experienced harm online, including exposure to violent or hateful content, despite the protections introduced by the Act coming into force.

Earlier this week, the U.K. government announced it would implement some form of age or functionality restrictions on social media platforms for users under 16 years old. Pressure is growing as other countries, including Australia, move toward outright bans on children’s access to certain platforms.

Fake birthdays, borrowed logins, and false mustaches

The research surveyed 1,270 U.K. children aged 9–16 and their parents. It revealed that nearly a third (32%) admitted to bypassing age checks within just two months. The most common method was entering a fake birthday (13%), followed by using someone else’s login credentials (9%) or borrowing another person’s device (8%). Others used virtual private networks (VPNs), submitted photos or videos of real or fictional individuals, or altered their appearance to deceive facial recognition tools.

One particularly notable finding involved children physically changing their looks to fool the technology. A mother shared with researchers: “I caught my son using an eyebrow pencil to draw a mustache on his face, and it verified him as being 15 years old.” The report noted that this technique reportedly worked in multiple cases.

Almost half (46%) of children believe age checks can be easily bypassed—a sentiment shared more strongly by older children, with 52% of those aged 13 and above saying it was straightforward to get through these systems. One parent remarked, “I don’t consider it much of a deterrent. If anything, because there’s a barrier in place, kids will go out of their way to be the first to get through it.”

The report also revealed that parents are sometimes complicit in these workarounds. A quarter (26%) of parents said they allowed their children to bypass age checks, with one in six (17%) actively assisting their kids in doing so. An additional 9% admitted to turning a blind eye or permitting it.

Beyond weaknesses in age verification, the report highlights ongoing exposure to harmful content among children. Almost half (49%) said they encountered harmful material online shortly after the new measures took effect. This included seeing violent content (12%), images promoting unrealistic body standards (11%), and hate speech—including racist or homophobic material (10%)—all of which are prohibited under the Act’s Protection of Children Codes. Focus group participants described stumbling upon distressing content, such as footage of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which left some deeply disturbed.

Children frequently encounter AI-generated videos and images, many of which are difficult to distinguish from real ones. This raises concerns about misinformation and inappropriate material. One 16-year-old girl explained: “Something happened to one of my friends where someone used her face to create a nude image.”

“Children are clever, and they will test the boundaries of any age check,” Ricardo Amper, Founder and CEO of Incode Technologies, a company specializing in fraud prevention and biometric authentication, told us. “That’s why basic checks aren’t enough. The system must be trained to detect fraud, with built-in liveness and deepfake detection, so it can differentiate between a real child, a replayed video, a modified face, or an AI-generated attempt to bypass the system.”

Some signs of progress

The situation isn’t entirely dire. Around seven in ten children (68%) and parents (67%) say they’ve noticed more safety measures online, including better reporting tools, content filters, and limits on features like live streaming. Over half of children (53%) report being asked to verify their age recently, and the majority (54%) say online content has become more suitable for younger audiences. Thirty-nine percent of parents and 42% of children feel the online world has grown safer recently—though 28% of parents and 16% of children believe it has become less safe.

Children also struggle to control their screen time, as platforms’ addictive design features make it harder to stop. “I definitely spend a lot of time on my phone—I’m still scrolling at 3 a.m. on school nights,” said one 16-year-old girl. Another 12-year-old described the relentless pull of short-form video: “With TikTok or YouTube Shorts… it’s just an endless loop. There’s never a moment when it stops.”

The findings suggest the Online Safety Act has yet to deliver the significant improvements families expected. Only 22% of parents and 31% of children think the government is doing enough to protect minors online. Support for banning social media for everyone under 16 is strong among parents (62%), though many doubt its practicality and worry it might cut off vital social connections. Instead, stronger enforcement of current laws, stricter age checks, and limiting harmful platform features were seen as more effective alternatives.

“This report offers an early snapshot of how the Online Safety Act is impacting children’s safety and wellbeing online,” Rachel Huggins, CEO of Internet Matters, stated. “While some families are beginning to see positive changes, progress remains uneven and far too slow. Children continue to be exposed to harmful content at unacceptable levels, and their experiences with age verification show these systems are often weak or easily fooled.”

“Just one in five parents, and fewer than a third of children, believe the government is doing enough to keep kids safe online,” she added. “Parents are also clear that social media companies must do more and be held accountable.”

The report calls for online services to follow safety-by-design principles, ensuring children’s access to platforms depends on the level of risk rather than blanket restrictions. It urges highly effective age assurance systems that function reliably in practice, stronger media literacy support for families, and robust enforcement of existing laws.