‘Death Stranding' Is Helping UK Users Bypass Age Verification Laws

Gizmodo

4 days ago

Gamers in the United Kingdom have found a surprisingly simple way to bypass online age verification checks now required by law on some websites using just a video game.
An X user named Dany Sterkhov appears to be the first to discover the hack. On July 25, he posted that he had bypassed Discord's age verification check using the photo mode in the video game Death Stranding.
Sterkhov made the post just days after the U.K. began enforcing the Online Safety Act—a set of laws passed in 2023 aimed at preventing children from accessing porn or other 'harmful' content related to self-harm, suicide, and eating disorders. Companies that fail to comply with the new laws could face fines of up to 18 million pounds ($24.2 million) or 10% of their global revenue, whichever amount is higher. According to the U.K.'s media regulator, Ofcom, platforms like Bluesky, Discord, Grindr, Reddit, and X have already committed to adding age verification systems to their platforms.
'Prioritizing clicks and engagement over children's online safety will no longer be tolerated in the U.K.,' said Ofcom executive chief Dame Melanie Dawes in a statement. 'Our message to tech firms is clear – comply with age-checks and other protection measures set out in our Codes, or face the consequences of enforcement action from Ofcom.'
But it turns out some of these age verification methods aren't all that hard to trick.
The Verge and PCGamer have both tried Sterkhov's hack themselves and confirmed it works.
Most of these companies rely on third-party platforms to handle age verification. These services typically give users the option to upload a government-issued photo ID or submit photos of themselves.
Discord uses a platform called k-ID for age verification. According to The Verge's Tom Warren, all he had to do to pass the check was point his phone's camera at his monitor to scan the face of Sam Bridges, the protagonist of Death Stranding, using the game's photo mode. The system did ask him to open and close his mouth—something that is easy enough to do in the game.
Warren was also able to bypass Reddit's age check, which is handled by Persona, using the same method. However, the trick didn't work with Bluesky's system, which uses Yoti for age verification.
Discord and Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo.
Death Stranding gamers weren't the only ones trying to avoid the age verification systems.
ProtonVPN reported on X that it saw an over 1,400 percent increase in sign-ups in the U.K. after the age verification requirements took effect. VPNs let people browse the web as if they were in a different location, making it easier to bypass the U.K.'s age checks.
In the U.S., laws requiring similar age verification systems for porn sites have passed in nearly half the states. Nine states in the U.S. have also passed laws requiring parental consent or age verification for social media platforms.