{"id":214140,"date":"2026-02-16T12:02:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/uk-government-considers-vpn-ban-for-under-16s-as-privacy-advocates-slam-proposal-as-a-draconian-crackdown\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T12:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T17:35:08","slug":"uk-government-considers-vpn-ban-for-under-16s-as-privacy-advocates-slam-proposal-as-a-draconian-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/uk-government-considers-vpn-ban-for-under-16s-as-privacy-advocates-slam-proposal-as-a-draconian-crackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"UK government considers VPN ban for under-16s \u2013 as privacy advocates slam proposal as a ‘draconian crackdown’"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK government considers VPN ban for under-16s \u2013 as privacy advocates slam proposal as a ‘draconian crackdown’<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.tomsguide.com\/computing\/vpns\/uk-government-considers-vpn-ban-for-under-16s-as-privacy-advocates-slam-proposal-as-a-draconian-crackdown<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-02-16 12:02:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.tomsguide.com<\/a><\/p>\n

The UK government continues to exert pressure on the best VPNs as Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, announced “immediate action” in its steps to make children safe online.<\/p>\n

Following an initial consultation, the government is immediately targeting illegal AI-generated content, but an additional consultation will examine age-restricting, or limiting, children’s VPN use.<\/p>\n

No firm decisions have been made but opinions are already split, with one privacy group calling the measures “draconian.”<\/p>\n

The government’s announcement comes a few weeks after the UK House of Lords voted for a VPN ban for children \u2013 a decision expected to be overturned by the House of Commons.<\/p>\n

“Closing the loopholes”<\/span><\/h2>\n

In a press release and speech, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government is “closing the loopholes that put children at risk.” The latest consultation follows action taken against illegal AI-generated images, with the Prime Minister saying “no platform gets a free pass.”<\/p>\n

The next consultation \u2013 which launches in March 2026 \u2013 aims to “confront the full range of risks children face online.” Alongside examining restricting the use of AI chatbots for children and changing the digital age of consent, VPNs will be investigated.<\/p>\n

“Options to age restrict or limit children\u2019s VPN use” will be considered “where it undermines safety protections.”<\/p>\n

The government has faced pressure from the Lords, and fellow MPs, to implement VPN restrictions and wider social media bans. In January 2026, the House of Lords passed an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools bill 207 votes to 159.<\/p>\n

The amendment called for a VPN ban for under 16s within 12 months of the bill becoming law. However, this amendment isn’t expected to pass in the House of Commons.<\/p>\n

\n

(Image credit: Hans-Peter Merten \/ Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n

MPs have also called for a VPN ban. Members from parties across the political spectrum have called for VPNs to introduce age verification. In December 2025, Minister of State for Digital Government and…<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UK government considers VPN ban for under-16s \u2013 as privacy advocates slam proposal as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":214141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/4VXTpqXRXmenWRYadxMYLd-1280-80.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-214140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-privacy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214140"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":214142,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214140\/revisions\/214142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}