Britain’s most tattooed man says the UK’s new online age-check system won’t let him in because it thinks his tattoo-covered face is a mask.
45-year-old King of Ink Land, legally known as Matthew Whelan, has spent over 1,600 hours getting inked from head to toe. But now, he says the government’s tech is locking him out of certain sites because it can’t recognize his viral face.
“It keeps asking me to remove my face,” he told Need To Know. “I can’t just do a Nicholas Cage or John Travolta like in Face/Off.”
The UK recently introduced stricter age verification measures for mature content online. Users now have to pass a facial scan to prove they’re over 18, something that’s sparked backlash for its clunky implementation and potential privacy issues.
But for King of Ink Land, it’s more than just inconvenient.
Instagram/kingofinklandkingbodyartUK’s new online safety filter denies man with tattooed face
When trying to access a webcam site, the system flagged his face as a mask and blocked the tattooed celebrity entirely.
“All this proves is that technology and AI are discriminatory and not set up for people with facial tattoos,” he said.
“I feel like I’m being punished for being me. There’s no place for discrimination, especially from technology.”
He added that he’s been denied ID checks before due to his name and appearance, but being asked to “remove” his face takes things to a new level. He’s now considering using a VPN to bypass the gate.
Some users online have found workarounds using hyper-realistic game characters like Sam Porter Bridges, played by Norman Reedus, from Death Stranding, to fool facial recognition. That might be the next step, unless the system figures out how to recognize faces that aren’t clean-cut.
Either way, King of Ink Land is making it clear: his face isn’t a mask. It’s just inked.