THE Malwarebytes piece examines whether the Online Safety Act is delivering the promised protections for children, noting the Act came into effect in July 2025 and a survey based on research by the UK’s Internet Matters sheds light on changes since then, according to Internet Matters. It reports that around half of children say they now see more age-appropriate content, while roughly four in ten parents and children feel the online world has become somewhat safer.
Yet almost half of children think age checks are easy to bypass, with tactics including fake birthdates, borrowed logins, spoofed faces and, less commonly, VPNs.
A striking anecdote quoted is, “I did catch my son [12] using an eyebrow pencil to draw a moustache on his face, and it verified him as 15 years old.” The piece notes that while the system has made safety features more visible and enabled more age-appropriate experiences in some areas, the Act has not yet produced a “step change,” with age‑assurance described as patchy and easily circumvented, and key concerns such as AI risks and persuasive design remaining under-regulated.