- Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says social media ban for UK teenagers due to VPN use ‘unlikely to work’
- Social media providers expected to prevent under-16s in the UK from using their platforms
- While digital rights experts say circumvention is easy, the UK Prime Minister insists the ban is enforceable.
Nigel Farage said the government’s plan to ban under-16s from accessing social media platforms is “unlikely to work” due to the “mass adoption of VPNs”.
Following the British Prime Minister’s announcement, the Reform UK leader took to
While the social media ban is well-intentioned, it is unlikely to work given the mass adoption of VPNs. It will also mean the introduction of digital identification through the back door. The real answer here is kids’ phones with limited features.June 15, 2026
When asked if children can use VPNs to bypass restrictions, Keir Starmer told reporters that authorities “can enforce” the ban.
“I’m not willing to say that because some kids might try to get around it, and some kids might get around it, that’s not a good reason to take the step of banning. I just don’t accept that,” he said.
Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, X, Instagram, Facebook and gaming platforms operating in the UK will soon have to prevent access to all users under 16 years of age. It is expected to come into effect in spring 2027.
The ban specifically targets “user-to-user platforms” that enable public social interaction, with messaging services like WhatsApp and Signal being excluded from the bill.
Lawmakers are also studying possible curfews and pauses in endless travel for those under 18, with more details expected in July.
It’s unclear how platforms are expected to enforce these requirements, but the announcement suggests that mandatory age verification checks could be strengthened.
Whether a virtual private network (VPN) or similar tool can help children get around the new rules will depend on how social media providers decide to implement age controls. This means that VPNs may work with some services and not others.
VPNs could be used to mask people’s locations and make tech platforms think a user resides outside the UK. However, this is unlikely to work if checks are performed at the App Store or device level.
Social media platforms likely know where their users are based on someone’s past activity. Additionally, platforms could determine a user’s true location using a variety of different techniques, including network and SIM card data, and in-app GPS tracking.
However, there may still be other ways to bypass the restrictions.
According to James Baker, director of the Open Rights Group’s Platform Power and Freedom of Expression program, there are “many ways” a young person can get around a ban that don’t require a VPN connection.
He told TechRadar: “Evidence from Australia showed that many young people circumvented age checks by cheating facial age estimates or by borrowing ID documents.”
As more details become available, we will better understand how the ban will work in practice and possible solutions.
