Age verification lands in Italy

Date:
Tue, 11 Nov 2025 17:23:28 +0000

Description:
Italy is set to enforce mandatory age checks starting November 12 on AGCOM's listed websites displaying adult-only content.

FULL STORY

In less than 24 hours, Italians will be forced to prove they are at least 18 years old every time they want to access websites hosting adult content.

Italy joins France, the UK, and several US states in enforcing mandatory age verification in a bid to shield minors from harmful content online.

The country's communications authority, AGCOM, says its system has been built on a "double anonymity" model to protect people's privacy. Yet, age checks
have sparked concerns among privacy-conscious users worldwide and often provoked a spike in demand for VPN apps.

VPNs and other circumvention tools have become a quick way to bypass new rules, which has fulled debates about whether governments should block VPNs altogether.

In the UK, the communications regulator, Ofcom, has confirmed to TechRadar
that it's actively monitoring VPN use with an unnamed third-party tool. While two US States Wisconsin and Michigan are considering introducing an obligation to block VPN traffic.

There are currently no restrictions on using a VPN to bypass Italy's age verification law and it seems like some have already started researching the most secure VPNs in preparation for the age checks.

However, there is an obligation on the websites to verify users' age and they are also forbidden from promoting VPNs as a way of bypassing the age checks.

How Italy's age verification rules affect VPN usage

As per AGCOM's provisions , the only obligation regarding VPNs applies to all "entities required by law to implement the age verification system." Put simply, the websites displaying adult-only content.

The list of websites, which AGCOM is expected to keep adding to, "must not promote or otherwise refer to any mechanism for circumventing age assurance systems."

All this means that Italians won't be prevented from accessing adult websites when using a VPN at least for now.

If you're looking to get a new VPN app, we strongly suggest staying away from dangerous free VPNs and only downloading apps that have been thoroughly reviewed and tested.

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/age-verification-lands-in-i taly-heres-how-it-affects-vpn-users

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