Sometimes you watch a policy unfold and think, “Well, this is going to be a spectacular failure.” The UK’s age verification requirements for adult content sites have delivered exactly that outcome, with users simply abandoning compliant sites for ones that ignore the rules entirely.

The whole thing reads like a case study in how not to regulate the internet. Officials seemed genuinely surprised that people would seek alternatives when faced with handing over personal identification to access legal content. It’s the digital equivalent of being shocked that people found speakeasies during Prohibition.