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Online Safety Act: when a video game is suitable as a substitute for an ID card

29.7.2025

Translation: machine translated

The UK demands strict age verification from online platforms. But users outwit the systems with a character from "Death Stranding". VPNs are also booming.

The Online Safety Act has been in full force in the UK since 25 July 2025. The new regulations are intended to better protect internet users from illegal and harmful content. However, as is so often the case with digital laws, the reality is more complex and sometimes curious.

What the Online Safety Act requires

The Online Safety Act was passed in 2023, but a key part of it is only now coming into force: the full enforcement of child protection obligations. The Act requires all online platforms such as Discord or Reddit that are operated or accessible in the UK to introduce «highly effective» age verification. Suppliers must ensure that children do not have access to content that is unsuitable for them. This includes pornography, violence or extremist content.

In concrete terms, this means:

Platforms are legally obliged to implement strict age verification. Simple age checks such as «Are you 18?» are no longer sufficient. British users must now identify themselves with a photo ID or a video selfie. Discord, for example, uses the k-ID system.
This applies not only to pornographic websites, but also to platforms that could be used to spread dangerous challenges, eating disorders, self-harm, online bullying or hate speech.
Violations could result in fines of up to 18 million pounds or ten per cent of global turnover as well as blocking by British internet service providers.
The regulatory authority Ofcom is responsible for supervision.

Gamers trick the system: with «Death Stranding»

However, where there are rules, there are often ways to circumvent them. The gaming community is particularly creative in this regard. The age verifications on platforms such as Discord and Reddit can be circumvented using the photo mode from the video game «Death Stranding» from 2019.

The trick was first publicised by X user Dany Sterkhov. The age verification systems, such as k-ID on Discord or Persona on Reddit, ask users to upload a short video with certain facial expressions, such as opening and closing their mouths.

Tom Warren from The Verge describes how he only had to point the camera of his smartphone at his monitor while the game character Sam Porter Bridges (played by Norman Reedus) performed exactly these movements in the photo mode of Death Stranding. The system recognised the game face as human and let him pass

Why Yoti doesn't fall for this trick

Not all age verification systems are so easy to fool. The Yoti platform, which is used by Bluesky for example, uses a combination of biometric analysis, liveness detection and document verification. This not only analyses the face, but also checks whether it is a real, living person: including comparison with official ID documents.

This is where the game character trick failed. The system recognised that it was not a real person. Platforms that use Yoti are therefore not susceptible to the «Death Stranding» trick. These include some British news sites, online shops and government services.

VPNs and data protection concerns

In addition to such tricks, many Britons also use traditional means such as VPN services to circumvent age verification. Suppliers such as Proton VPN report a sharp increase in registrations of over 1400 per cent in some cases.

At the same time, criticism of the measures is growing. Data protectionists are warning of excessive surveillance and the possible misuse of biometric data. There are also concerns that the new hurdles will cause children to switch to unsafe platforms such as the darknet.

Header image: 505 Games

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