A new report has found that children in the UK are drawing fake moustaches on their faces to trick facial recognition age verification software on social media and gaming platforms. And it's working. One mother told researchers she caught her 12 year old son using an eyebrow pencil to draw a moustache on his face. The platform verified him as 15. Other methods kids are using include entering fake birthdays, borrowing a parent's ID, submitting videos of other people's faces and even using video game characters to fool facial selfie checks. The report, published by Internet Matters, surveyed over 1,270 children aged nine to 16 across the UK. It found that a third had bypassed age verification in the past two months, 46 percent said the checks were easy to get around, and one in six parents admitted to actively helping their child do it. The UK's Online Safety Act came into force in July 2025 and requires platforms to implement age appropriate safety measures, but the findings suggest the technology still has a long way to go #reelheadline #pubity #viral