Politicians, technologists and civil society organizations reacted with dismay following a vote in the House of Lords to ban children from using VPNs and force providers to implement age verification measures.
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales criticized the move in X and called the UK’s stance a disgrace. Windscribe CEO Yegor Sak previously described the proposal as the “dumbest possible solution” and warned that age verification for VPNs would set a terrible precedent for digital privacy.
Labor laws, lords and VPN
Last week, the The House of Lords voted in favor of an amendment to the Schools and Child Welfare Bill that would effectively ban VPNs for under-18s.
The amendment would require commercial VPN providers to implement mandatory age-checking technology to prevent minors from using their services to circumvent online security measures.
The government, which opposed the amendment, launched a three-month consultation period on children’s social media that includes considerations on VPN use.
The UK’s war on VPNs is a disgrace. For child safety, we should teach them about internet safety, including why they should use a VPN to protect their privacy, block malware, etc. To keep children safe, are we legislating to prevent them from being safer online? Angry.January 26, 2026
Political rejection
While the House of Lords has stated its intention, the proposal now goes to the House of Commons, where it is expected to face significant opposition from the Labor government.
If the Commons rejects the change – which it is expected to do – the House of Lords must decide whether to engage in a round of parliamentary “ping-pong” or defer to the government.
Labour’s Lord Knight of Weymouth, who voted against the amendment, told TechRadar he believes politicians are unlikely to “die in a ditch” over the VPN ban.
According to Lord Knight, many politicians are more focused on delivering “something iconic” around child safety rather than navigating the technical minefield of VPN regulation.
However, he said regulator Ofcom “needs to do more” to enforce existing safety laws and agreed with the government that more is needed to protect children online, as long as it is done “carefully”.
The response of civil society
Whether the Lords’ proposal becomes law or not, it is clear that VPNs are now facing greater scrutiny than ever. And it’s not limited to the UK.
Evan Greer, director of US-based Fight for the Future, told TechRadar that policies aimed at discouraging or banning VPN use “will put human rights activists, journalists, abuse survivors and other vulnerable people in immediate danger.”
Fight for the Future is currently running a campaign on DefendVPNs.com that allows users to write directly to lawmakers. The campaign’s open letter maintains that using the Internet safely and privately is a fundamental human right.
Meanwhile, in the UK, a petition is calling on the government to reject any proposal that would effectively ban VPNs for children.
The Open Rights Group has also been active raising awareness about the tools and arguing that detecting or banning VPNs is not technically feasible without an “extreme level of digital authoritarianism.”
