UK government could ban VPNs for children

VPNs could be banned for children in the UK if a new law is approved by the government.

On January 21, the UK House of Lords voted to allow an amendment to the government's Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill which would ban VPN usage for children.

Effectively, it would require VPN users to go through age assurance — the way that the UK's Online Safety Act requires such assurance to view material deemed "harmful to children," from pornography to content about eating disorders.

"Within 12 months of the day on which this Act is passed the Secretary of State must, for the purpose of furthering the protection and wellbeing of children, make regulations which prohibit the provision to UK children of a Relevant VPN Service," the amendment states.

In the six months since the Online Safety Act went into effect, VPN use has more than doubled in the UK, as it's a loophole for submitting personal data to view certain content. Now, the UK government seeks to close the loophole and deem VPNs unsuitable for minors, as well.

When Mashable spoke to free speech and internet experts in 2025 about age verification, they warned of "second-order censorship," which comes after primary regulation. In this case, the primary regulation is the Online Safety Act, and people are finding workarounds. Second-order censorship would involve restricting VPNs.

It's a similar story in the United States, where a proposed bill in Michigan seeks to ban both porn and VPNs.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill is still proposed legislation, thus hasn't been passed nor is it going into effect yet. MPs will now consider changes to the Bill as part of a process known as ping-pong: the to and fro of amendments to Bills between the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

The vote came days before Pornhub announced new restrictions coming in the UK: Any adult who hasn't verified their age on the site before Feb. 2 will no longer be able to access it. Representatives from Pornhub's parent company, Aylo, cited VPN use as one reason why the Online Safety Act is failing. Aylo instead advocates for device-level filters as a more comprehensive way to keep minors off porn sites.