VPNs Searched for on Australia's App Store After Teens Restricted from Social Media

VPN is now the top downloaded app by Australians. This happens after online age restrictions are imposed, but adults seem to be affected by these restrictions.

In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban the use of social media for teenagers. With this policy, digital platforms must verify age to prevent teenagers from accessing adult content or harmful material.

Launching from Reuters, three of the fifteen most downloaded free apps on the App Store are VPN services. This finding is not surprising because many users want to bypass the blocking set by local governments.

However, a number of adults have also been forced to download a VPN since the rule was implemented. The reason is that the owners of large pornographic site networks such as Aylo are closing themselves off from Australia because of the rules that are considered unsafe.

Aylo is against the age verification system and says that this policy is not effective. Therefore, Aylo does not accept new account registrations in Australia on pornographic distribution platforms such as RedTube and YouPorn.

This blocking is not only imposed in Australia. Aylo said that they are implementing similar measures in other regions such as the United Kingdom and France which will also limit access for teenagers with an age verification system.

Digital rights advocacy groups assess that the phenomenon of using VPNs in the midst of access restrictions is not surprising. They argue that in addition to unblocking, VPNs also provide additional privacy protection for internet users.

"My hope is that they not only find that this (VPN) works to see vulgar websites, but also that the use of VPNs is a good idea when browsing the internet," said Tom Sulston, Deputy Chairman of Digital Rights Watch, quoted on Monday, March 9.