Proton VPN has become the UK’s most downloaded free app, as Britons rush to bypass a new law requiring users to verify their age before accessing websites hosting adult content.
Proton VPN reported a staggering 1,400% surge in UK sign-ups almost immediately after the Online Safety Act came into effect. It is now Britain’s most downloaded free app, overtaking ChatGPT, according to Apple’s App Store rankings.
The Switzerland-based virtual private network (VPN) said in a post on X that the surge in interest has been “sustained.” This contrasts with recent short-term spikes, such as when people in France temporarily lost access to adult sites like Pornhub and RedTube last month due to new legislation.
The surge in downloads follows the UK government’s rollout of the Online Safety Act, which came into effect after midnight on Friday, July 25. The law requires websites such as Pornhub, Reddit, and TikTok to implement strict age verification measures, including uploading an official ID or using third-party identity checks.
The act is an attempt to protect minors from accessing harmful or adult content online. However, VPNs provide a relatively easy way to circumvent the new law. By masking a user’s location, they can make it appear as if internet users are accessing the web from outside the UK, where the new law doesn’t apply.
Ofcom, the UK’s communications regulator, has warned against using VPNs to sidestep the new rules. Meanwhile, Katie Freeman-Tayler of children’s safety group Internet Matters has raised concerns about how easily children can access VPNs.
“This makes it easy for them to circumvent important protections introduced under the Online Safety Act, such as age checks designed to shield them from adult content,” she told the BBC.
Proton isn’t the only company benefiting from the new law. Of the top ten free apps in Apple’s UK ranking, six are currently VPN services. They include Yoti, NordVPN, and Free VPN.
“We would normally associate these large spikes in sign-ups with major civil unrest,” Proton said in a statement. “This clearly shows that adults are concerned about the impact universal age verification laws will have on their privacy.”
Proton and other tech firms have previously criticised aspects of the Online Safety Act, warning the law could erode user privacy by forcing companies to scan private messages or break end-to-end encryption.
Criticism has also come from political quarters. Nigel Farage, leader of right-wing political party Reform UK, pledged this week to repeal the rules, labelling them “authoritarian” and a threat to free speech. A separate petition to overturn the Online Safety Act has racked up over 350,000 signatures, triggering a parliamentary review.
Growing demand for VPNs, meanwhile, has sparked fears that the government could ban the services. Security experts, however, have downplayed the concerns. “The UK won’t ban VPNs,” Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at Slovakian software firm ESET, said on X. “It would be nearly impossible, and it would dramatically disrupt legitimate use.”
