Banning children from VPNs and social media will erode adults' privacy
New Scientist
February 26, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
A proposed UK law aiming to restrict children’s access to social media and VPNs has sparked concerns among legal experts about its potential to erode adults’ privacy while failing to effectively protect young users. The Online Safety Act (OSA), implemented in July 2025, already blocks children from accessing harmful content on certain websites, but tech-savvy kids can bypass these measures using VPNs or fake age verification methods like screenshots of video game characters. Now, new amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill could ban children under 16 from using social media and VPNs entirely, though the broad definition of “user-to-user services” would likely apply to platforms beyond social media, such as Wikipedia and WhatsApp. These changes are intended to address loopholes in the OSA but could inadvertently restrict access to essential online tools while forcing adults to undergo mandatory age checks, potentially exposing their browsing habits.
Critics argue that these measures are overbroad and counterproductive. Legal experts warn that requiring adults to verify their identities for everyday services like Wikipedia or even shared family calendars would risk privacy breaches if data were hacked or leaked. Neil Brown of decoded.legal calls the proposed amendments “dreadful,” stating they could criminalize ordinary activities for children while failing to address the core issue of online safety effectively. Heather Burns, a digital rights expert, notes that the bill has become a “monster,” conflating unrelated issues like school milk distribution with online safety concerns. These amendments would also grant unprecedented power to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, allowing it to classify websites as restricted without proper oversight.
The broader implications of these changes raise questions about privacy, digital rights, and the effectiveness of internet governance. While the intention is to protect children, critics argue that existing laws like the OSA have already shown how difficult it is to regulate online content effectively. Australia has banned social media for under-16s, and the EU is considering similar measures, but experts caution that such restrictions may do more harm than good by
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Originally published on New Scientist on 2/26/2026