- UK Govt. to hold three-month consultation to improve kids’ safety online
- The consultation will include discussions about the use of VPNs
- A vote in the House of Lords voted in favor or banning VPNs for under-18s
Liz Kendall, the UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, has announced a three-month consultation to explore “further measures” to improve online safety for children, including potential restrictions on VPNs.
Ministers will consider action to address concerns that VPNs are being used to “get around important protections”. The consultation, which was announced on Tuesday, will involve discussions with parents, safety organizations, tech companies, and young people.
The process will also consider banning social media for under-16s, preventing companies from harvesting children’s data without consent, introducing overnight curfews, and promoting solutions to curb “excessive doomscrolling”.
The announcement was followed by 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 checks. Peers also voted in favor of banning social media for under-16s.
Labour peers had urged the chamber to wait for the consultation’s outcome, but others argued the time for deliberation was over. Crossbench peer Baroness Kidron said: “Consultation is the playground of the tech lobbyist and inaction is the most powerful tool in politics.”
‘Dither and delay’
Liz Kendall has defended the consultation period. She said: “Listening to different views is the right and responsible approach.”
Labour MP Andrew Cooper supported the decision and highlighted the “risk” of children being driven into “less well-regulated spaces and into virtual private networks” following government restrictions.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed the consultation as “more dither and delay”. Badenoch has already confirmed that her party would introduce an immediate ban on social media for those under 16.
Kendall has committed to establishing a “clear position before the summer”.
TechRadar has contacted the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology for clarification on whether specific VPN providers will be included in the consultation process.
Peers vote to ban VPNs for under–18s
On Wednesday, the House of Lords voted in favor of banning the use of under-18s. The chamber backed the amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill by 207 votes to 159, marking a significant government defeat.
The amendment was introduced by Conservative peer Lord Nash, with support from co-signatories including Baroness Benjamin and Baroness Cass.
Nash argued that the government’s consultation was “unnecessary, misconceived and clearly a last-minute attempt to kick the can down the road”.
Prior to 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 age-gating the apps could be “extremely problematic”. He said:
“My phone uses a VPN, following a personal device cyber consultation offered by this Parliament. VPNs can make us more secure, and we should not rush to deprive children of that safety.”
The amendment will now pass to the House of Commons, where the government – which holds a large majority – is expected to try and overturn it.
TechRadar has reached out to a number of peers involved in the vote.
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samuel.woodhams@futurenet.com (Samuel Woodhams)
