Where are these accounts promised “that would never happen”, “Lords just asked for help with that question – nothing else is planned” and so on?
What excuses are used for that push? Is it again “protect kids”?
YoshiMK on
How do they age verify a service like TOR then which requires no account at all to use?
jeremybeadleshand on
>“Some argue that because VPNs exist, any age assurance system will fail,” AVPA says. “This leads to the mistaken belief that age-restricted sites are exempt from compliance if users connect through a VPN. Legislation we have reviewed globally, including the UK’s Online Safety Act and similar measures in Australia or U.S. states, offers no such exemption. In practice, there are ways to detect and address circumvention and there is no need to even consider banning VPNs outright.”
So basically even if you block the UK…you’re still in scope? Pointless in practice though because the problem comes back to the fact the fines are unenforceable on a website based overseas, nor can you compel a website based overseas to detect and block VPNs.
TheCharalampos on
I have been so shocked by how tech illiterate so many people who make policy about tech are.
Like at first I assumed they just pretended so as they had alternative goals. And that is true to a point. But the lack of knowledge is real.
greenpowerman99 on
Nearly all VPN services require a bank account for payment. This is a de-facto verification of age.
digitalpencil on
It won’t pass. 207 in favour and 159 against is all well and good, but it’s largely partisan. Those in favour are majority Conservative. It’ll be killed when it goes back to the Commons.
Weak-Fly-6540 on
Opinion piece masquerading as fact which Rule 7 does not allow.
Ok-Witness4724 on
Wouldn’t all this money be better spent on public awareness campaigns telling parents how to parent?
MarginSqeaky on
It’s daft to even consider banning vpns imo. All people would need to do is rent a VPS abroad and tunnel traffic through there. Or maybe they go back to downloading via p2p like people used to.
There are real use cases for VPN other than for porn. I hope they’ve taken that into account.
spartanwolf223 on
Had a load of people here constantly going on about the OSA and “just VPN around it, its not THAT bad you’re just being a paranoid leftist woke loser!! They cant ban VPN’s, lol”.
And here we are.
dr1v38y on
This looks like one of those ai written advert traffic generators being hosted on a compromised site. I get these showing up in my Google news feed all the time, they’re totally worthless.
TremendousCustard on
Good. Now let it get held up until it drops faster than Lord Nash’s balls into the toilet water.
Icy_Researcher1031 on
My question is how would it even be enforced? Most reputable vpns aren’t uk based and probably don’t have a legal presence here which means they’re out of reach of any meaningful legal recourse. That and trying to block vpn traffic is gonna be a very expensive game of whack a mole for ofcom.
15 Comments
Where are these accounts promised “that would never happen”, “Lords just asked for help with that question – nothing else is planned” and so on?
What excuses are used for that push? Is it again “protect kids”?
How do they age verify a service like TOR then which requires no account at all to use?
>“Some argue that because VPNs exist, any age assurance system will fail,” AVPA says. “This leads to the mistaken belief that age-restricted sites are exempt from compliance if users connect through a VPN. Legislation we have reviewed globally, including the UK’s Online Safety Act and similar measures in Australia or U.S. states, offers no such exemption. In practice, there are ways to detect and address circumvention and there is no need to even consider banning VPNs outright.”
So basically even if you block the UK…you’re still in scope? Pointless in practice though because the problem comes back to the fact the fines are unenforceable on a website based overseas, nor can you compel a website based overseas to detect and block VPNs.
I have been so shocked by how tech illiterate so many people who make policy about tech are.
Like at first I assumed they just pretended so as they had alternative goals. And that is true to a point. But the lack of knowledge is real.
Nearly all VPN services require a bank account for payment. This is a de-facto verification of age.
It won’t pass. 207 in favour and 159 against is all well and good, but it’s largely partisan. Those in favour are majority Conservative. It’ll be killed when it goes back to the Commons.
Opinion piece masquerading as fact which Rule 7 does not allow.
Wouldn’t all this money be better spent on public awareness campaigns telling parents how to parent?
It’s daft to even consider banning vpns imo. All people would need to do is rent a VPS abroad and tunnel traffic through there. Or maybe they go back to downloading via p2p like people used to.
The AVPA corporate lobbyist group mentioned in the article is likely running a major pro-age verification astroturfing campaign at the moment. The CEO of the Age Verification Providers Association Ian Corby, is literally taking the time to spam the comments sections of [Techdirt articles](https://www.techdirt.com/2022/08/26/who-would-benefit-from-californias-age-appropriate-design-code-apparently-porn-companies-privacy-lawyers-and-medical-disinfo-peddlers-but-not-kids/#comment-2366092) (California), and [Michael Geist articles](https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2025/10/senate-bill-would-grant-government-regulatory-power-to-mandate-age-verification-for-search-social-media-and-ai-services-accompanied-by-threat-of-court-ordered-blocking-of-lawful-content/#comment-194170) (Canada’s bill S-209).
If he’s willing to do this, then he’s definitely paying for various astroturfing campaigns to support his agenda.
And Ian Corby strongly rejects any attempt to respect user privacy:
> Ian Corby of the Age Verification Providers Association rejected calls for a switch to device-based verification.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgkz3m3re1zo
There are real use cases for VPN other than for porn. I hope they’ve taken that into account.
Had a load of people here constantly going on about the OSA and “just VPN around it, its not THAT bad you’re just being a paranoid leftist woke loser!! They cant ban VPN’s, lol”.
And here we are.
This looks like one of those ai written advert traffic generators being hosted on a compromised site. I get these showing up in my Google news feed all the time, they’re totally worthless.
Good. Now let it get held up until it drops faster than Lord Nash’s balls into the toilet water.
My question is how would it even be enforced? Most reputable vpns aren’t uk based and probably don’t have a legal presence here which means they’re out of reach of any meaningful legal recourse. That and trying to block vpn traffic is gonna be a very expensive game of whack a mole for ofcom.