- UK government to hold three-month consultation to improve children’s safety online
- The consultation will include discussions on the use of VPNs.
- A vote in the House of Lords voted to ban VPNs for under-18s.
Liz Kendall, UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, announced a three-month consultation to explore “additional measures” to improve children’s online safety, including possible restrictions on VPNs.
Ministers will consider measures to address concerns that VPNs are being used to “bypass important protections”. The consultation, announced on Tuesday, will include discussions with parents, safety organisations, technology companies and young people.
The process will also consider banning social media for under-16s, preventing companies from collecting children’s data without consent, introducing nighttime curfews, and promoting solutions to curb “excessive doomscrolling.”
The announcement followed a government defeat in the House of Lords on Wednesday, where peers backed an amendment that would ban VPNs for children under 18 and force providers to implement age controls. The classmates also voted in favor of prohibiting social networks for those under 16 years of age.
Labor peers had urged the house to wait for the outcome of the consultation, but others argued that the time for deliberation was over. Crossbench colleague Baroness Kidron said: “Consultation is the tech lobbyist’s playground and inaction is the most powerful tool in politics.”
‘Vibration and delay’
Liz Kendall has defended the consultation period. He said: “Listening to different points of view is the right and responsible approach.”
Labor MP Andrew Cooper supported the decision, highlighting the “risk” of children being driven to “less regulated spaces and virtual private networks” following government restrictions.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed the consultation as “more hesitations and delays.” Badenoch has already confirmed that his party will immediately ban under-16s from social media.
Kendall has pledged to establish a “clear position before the summer.”
TechRadar has contacted the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology to clarify whether specific VPN providers will be included in the consultation process.
Peers vote to ban VPNs for those under 18
On Wednesday, the House of Lords voted to ban under-18s from using it. The House backed the amendment to the Schools and Child Welfare Bill by 207 votes to 159, marking a major defeat for the government.
The amendment was tabled by Conservative peer Lord Nash, supported by co-signatories including Baroness Benjamin and Baroness Cass.
Nash argued that the government’s consultation was “unnecessary, misguided and clearly a last-minute attempt to kick the can down the road.”
Ahead of the vote, Labour’s Lord Knight of Weymouth acknowledged that VPNs could “undermine the child safety gains of the Online Safety Act” but warned that limiting the age of apps could be “extremely problematic”. He said:
“My phone uses a VPN, following a cyber consultation on personal devices offered by this Parliament. VPNs can make us safer, and we should not rush to deprive children of that security.”
The amendment will now go to the House of Commons, where the government – which has a large majority – is expected to try to repeal it.
TechRadar has contacted several peers involved in the vote.
