UK Unlikely to Ban VPNs, Although Many Still Use Them to Circumvent Age Checks
The U.K. government has no plans to ban virtual private networks (VPNs) despite a surge in users downloading them to circumvent age verification and estimation rules under the Online Safety Act (OSA), a government spokesperson said.
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The OSA took effect in late July (see 2507290003). It doesn't restrict what adults can say, view or access online, except where such content is already illegal offline, the government spokesperson emailed us last week. “However, we make no apology for holding platforms accountable for protecting children. This means ensuring they take steps to prevent young people from bypassing safeguards, including restricting content that promotes VPNs or similar tools to children."
Under the OSA, platforms that deliberately target children and promote VPN use could face enforcement action, including significant fines. The government said it's closely monitoring how youngsters use VPNs to circumvent online safety measures.
More broadly, the spokesperson added, there are many legitimate reasons for using VPNs that don't cut across children's online safety.
The BBC reported in late July on the increase in VPN downloads, said Laura Harper, a media attorney at Lewis Silkin, in an email Thursday. She noted that one app maker told the news outlet that it had seen downloads spike 1,800%.
Under the OSA, platforms that allow pornography and other forms of content deemed harmful to children are required to use "robust" methods to check whether users are at least 18, Harper said. In addition, platforms that are required to introduce "highly effective" methods to verify user age aren't allowed to host, share or permit content that encourages the use of VPNs to get around age checks.
Nevertheless, Harper said, "it's clear that children are able to find and download VPNs for themselves and, for example, have used them before to get around geoblocking requirements or websites such as the BBC itself."
The story has died down a bit since the end of July, Harper added, but she cited another report last month that found that half of users are still bypassing the age checks via VPNs. U.S. betting websites must use location software to prevent VPN circumvention, so the U.K. government or its Office of Communications "may consider mandating similar requirements for adult websites in the U.K.," she said.
The Age Verification Providers Association doesn't have any information on VPN use beyond the download charts published by app stores, Executive Director Iain Corby emailed Tuesday. "We will have to wait for Ofcom research on the extent to which children are still seeing harmful content, and using VPNs, to learn if this is an issue affecting the policy objective, or was mostly adults wishing to avoid age checks."
Ofcom emailed us Thursday that it's monitoring VPN usage and examining children's familiarity with and use of VPNs, but it hasn't published any data yet.
Meanwhile, six Republican lawmakers in Michigan, led by state Rep. Josh Schriver (R), proposed an internet content bill (HB-4938) last month that would ban not only many types of content but also the ability to legally use any VPN. The Anticorruption of Public Morals Act would require ISPs to detect and block VPN use as well as ban the sale of VPNs in the state. Fines could be up to $500,000.