- The United Kingdom government says that “it has no plans to repeal the online security law” despite the growing concerns.
- The laws are designed to make the Internet a safer place, especially for vulnerable children and adults.
- Mandatory age verification controls have been applied since July 25, which caused concerns about the digital rights of web users
The United Kingdom government says it has no plans to repeal the online security law, as the opposition grows following the introduction of online age verification controls.
A petition that asks the government to eliminate the law has accumulated more than 450,000 signatures in just a few days. Although the law became law in 2023, the reaction has been caused by the recent introduction of age verification controls for users of many websites.
As of July 25, the British must go through solid mandatory age controls to access websites only for adults and any potentially harmful content online.
While the government says that laws are destined to protect both children and adults who use the Internet, critics argue that they have serious implications for people’s privacy, online security, freedom of expression and access to information.
The United Kingdom Government has responded to the petition with almost 400,000 signatures to repeal the online security law. They have no plans to repeal the online security law pic.twitter.com/m6uevrfwg1July 28, 2025
The Parliament of the United Kingdom must consider a debate on any request that obtains more than 100,000 signatures. However, responding to the petition, the United Kingdom’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology said: “The Government has no plans to repeal the online security law and is working closely with Ofcom to implement the law in the fastest and fastest possible way to allow users of the United Kingdom to benefit from their protections.”
He added: “The Government will continue working with Ofcom for the complete implementation of the Online Security Law 2023, including the proportional implementation of monitoring.”
What is behind the age verification reaction?
The online security law aims to make the Internet a safer place, especially for children. But many defenders of online privacy and security experts fear that age verification measures can end up doing more damage than well.
Now you must scan your face, a credit card or an identity document if you want to access a certain content of X, Reddit or Bluesky in the United Kingdom, and the same applies if you want to play a new video game of more than 18, find a new game in an appointment application or watch a video reserved only for adults. These platforms have to associate with third -party age verification services to implement controls.
Filtrations, abuse and misuse of data are just some of the risks linked to mass data collection that involve age verification checks. Some commentators also fear that the blockade of age is certain content that is considered harmful could lead to limitations in freedom of expression and access to information.
“While the intention of protecting children is understandable, the execution raises serious concerns about privacy, censorship and, functionally, whether it works,” Yegor Sak, co -founder and CEO of Windscribe VPN, based in Canada, told Techradar.
Such concerns have led thousands of people to resort to a virtual private network (VPN) as a way of safeguarding their confidential information. Proton VPN, for example, recorded an increase per hour of more than 1,400% from midnight on July 25.
If you have concerns about sharing your data online to meet the age verification checks, you can use a VPN to keep your data safe. You will find some reliable options in our best free VPN guide.
However, free VPN sometimes lack important security characteristics, so for a more robust option, take a look at our best VPN guide. Our main recommendation is Nordvpn, and at this time, Techradar readers can obtain an exclusive agreement when they are registered in one of their two -year plans.
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