UK Lawmakers Propose Sweeping Social Media Ban for Under-16s: A Digital Rights Minefield

In a move that has sent shockwaves through the tech and legal communities, UK lawmakers are pushing for a controversial new law that would ban children under 16 from using social media and virtual private networks (VPNs). The proposed amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, currently making its way through Parliament, have sparked fierce debate over privacy, digital rights, and the effectiveness of such measures in protecting children online.

The UK’s Online Safety Act (OSA), which came into force in July 2025, already requires websites to block children from accessing pornography and content deemed dangerous by the government. However, tech-savvy children have found ways to circumvent these measures, using facial-recognition technology spoofing and VPNs to appear as users from countries where age checks are not mandated.

Now, opposition peers in the House of Lords are proposing amendments that would take these restrictions even further. One amendment seeks to ban children under 16 from using social media, but its broad definition of “user-to-user services” could potentially affect a wide range of platforms, including Wikipedia, WhatsApp, forums, and even shared family calendars. Another amendment would ban the use of VPNs for those under 16.

Digital rights experts have raised serious concerns about the implications of these proposals. Heather Burns, a digital rights expert, describes the bill as a “monster,” with online safety clauses shoehorned into a largely unrelated law. She warns that the amendments could make a variety of everyday services illegal for children to use and force adults into mandatory age checks, potentially exposing their browsing habits to the government, hackers, or the public in the event of a data leak.

Neil Brown, a legal expert at decoded.legal, calls the amendments “dreadful,” arguing that they risk creating a paper trail of citizens’ browsing habits. He points out that such data could be misused in the future, citing the recent demand by the US Congress’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for details of Wikipedia users who edited an article on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The Department for Education, which proposed the bill, has directed questions to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, which has not responded. However, the Labour government has indicated that it will consult separately on a VPN ban for children and on access to social media.

James Baker, a spokesperson at the Open Rights Group, warns that the amendments would give the secretary of state for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology sweeping powers to add sites and services at will to a list that makes them fall under the department’s remit. This, he argues, would require adults to hand over personal or biometric data to third-party providers to generate a digital age credential simply to access lawful content.

The proposed legislation has drawn comparisons to similar measures in other countries. Australia has already banned social media for those aged under 16, and the European Union is considering similar legislation. However, critics argue that these broad-brush approaches may not effectively address the complex issues surrounding children’s online safety.

As the debate continues, it’s clear that the proposed amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill represent a significant shift in the UK’s approach to online safety and digital rights. While the intention to protect children online is commendable, the potential consequences for privacy, freedom of expression, and the open nature of the internet cannot be ignored.

The coming months will be crucial as lawmakers, tech companies, and digital rights advocates grapple with these complex issues. The outcome of this debate could have far-reaching implications for how we navigate the digital world, both as children and adults, in the UK and potentially beyond.

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“Monster bill” – Heather Burns
“Dreadful amendments” – Neil Brown
“Sweeping powers” – James Baker
“Witch hunt culture” – Heather Burns
“Fit for purpose” – Neil Brown
“Digital age minefield” – Tech Community
“Privacy erosion” – Digital Rights Experts
“Data leak risk” – Neil Brown
“Paper trail of browsing” – Heather Burns

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