Could VPN providers face age-assurance rules in the UK? Here’s what’s on the table

The UK government dropped a press release on February 15 that mentioned VPNs in its list of things it wants to tackle as part of child online safety efforts. Specifically, the release said the upcoming children’s digital wellbeing consultation will look at “options to age restrict or limit children’s VPN use where it undermines safety protections.”

That one line set off a firestorm on X. Posts from accounts like @Pirat_Nation and @BasilTheGreat claimed Starmer announced a VPN ban for children and wants everyone to use ID to access a VPN.

Keir Starmer himself posted about not giving platforms a free pass on child safety, which added fuel to the reaction. Starmer’s post has just 4.5k likes and over 13k comments, which is never a positive sign.

But the actual language in the press release somewhat debunks the current posts that make it seem like the ban is already here. It says the government will “examine” options, not that it’s decided on anything final. The consultation itself hasn’t even launched yet. It’s supposed to go live next month.

So why is this even on the table? The Online Safety Act is already being rolled out in phases, and it relies heavily on age assurance to keep kids away from harmful content. If platforms start putting up age gates, VPNs become the obvious escape route. Kids can just connect to a server outside the UK and bypass whatever checks are in place.

TechRadar covered the announcement and noted that while the government has confirmed it may limit or age-restrict VPN use for children, there’s still no clear answer on how that would work technically or whether it can even pass the political and privacy tests ahead.

Privacy advocates aren’t happy. Silkie Carlo, a digital rights campaigner, said requiring age checks or ID for VPNs would effectively ban them and put journalists, sources, and vulnerable users at risk. Others on X called it a slippery slope and accused the government of using “protect the children” as cover for surveillance.

Age verification is already spreading fast in the UK. Just recently, we highlighted the backlash against Discord for partnering with Persona for age verification in the country. Meanwhile, scammers have started running fake Discord age verification phishing attacks because of it. And for what it’s worth, teens are already finding ways around AI-based age checks anyway.

The big question now is what “limit” actually means when the consultation details come out next month. Will it be app store age ratings, hard blocks at the VPN provider level, or full ID checks? And more importantly, can the government actually enforce this without breaking encryption, privacy, or the basic functionality of VPNs?

For now, it’s all consultation talk and parliamentary amendments. But given how fast age verification has rolled into other platforms, VPN providers might want to start paying attention.

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