- French government may consider restricting VPNs
- Lawmakers recently passed a bill to prohibit children under 15 from using social media.
- a french minister said VPNs are next to be evaluated
France could consider restricting VPNs following its recent ban on social media for under-15s.
After facing questions about the possibility of teenagers circumventing the ban with VPNs, Anne Le Hénanff, minister delegate for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, said the ban was “just the first step”.
Why France might restrict VPNs?
Last week, France’s National Assembly approved the first reading of a bill that will prevent teenagers under 15 from using social media.
If the bill is adopted as expected, all social media platforms will be required to verify the age of all their users, including adults, by the end of 2026. reported Le Monde.
Le Hénanff does not rule out new measures to prevent children from using VPNs to circumvent the rules.
“On Monday we reached a very important step. […] We are the first European country that has set this age, 15 years. “This is just the beginning,” said Le Hénanff, noting that the average age for a child to register on social media in France is only eight and a half years old.
“At eight and a half years old, I don’t think anyone knows anything about VPN, unless they have the complicity of an adult,” he adds.
GLAÇANT Ce qui étaittreatment hier comme du délire parano est désormais assumé officiellement: l’interdiction des réseaux sociaux n’est qu’un debut vers la censure d’Internet .La minister annonce déjà, sans se cacher, le contrôle des VPN — comme dans les régimes autoritaires.… https://t.co/iKCmRpTSdiJanuary 31, 2026
Le Hénanff’s statement quickly drew criticism online. French writer and film director Alexandre Jardin compared the plan to those seen in authoritarian regimes.
“What was yesterday considered a paranoid delusion is now officially admitted: the social media ban is just the beginning of Internet censorship,” Jardin wrote in X.
“The minister already announces, without even hiding it, the control of VPNs, as in authoritarian regimes.”
This is not the first time VPNs have faced potential restrictions in the country. In 2023, a proposed amendment to the SREN bill also explored this possibility.
Speaking to TechRadar at the time, Andy Yen, founder and CEO of Proton, the company behind Proton VPN, warned that banning VPNs would “violate people’s fundamental rights that are fundamental to France and European values.”
Beyond France
France is not the only country looking at VPNs following the introduction of mandatory age verification.
The UK government is ready to review VPN use as part of a three-month consultation on children’s online safety. This follows a vote in the House of Lords in favor of an amendment that would ban VPNs for minors entirely.
A similar debate is happening across the United States. Michigan has taken the most radical stance yet, proposing a bill to ban not only the use of VPNs but also the promotion of the technology.
However, cybersecurity and digital rights experts warn that banning VPNs could ultimately harm both children and adults by removing essential privacy and security protections.
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