{"id":44753,"date":"2026-02-16T07:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T07:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=44753"},"modified":"2026-03-02T10:40:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:40:14","slug":"government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html","title":{"rendered":"Government Set to Restrict UK Children’s Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for social media (i.e. greater use of Age Verification), as well as options to age restrict or limit children’s use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN), where it “undermines safety protections and changing the age of digital consent<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

As regular readers will already know, the UK’s Online Safety Act<\/strong><\/a> (OSA) \u2013 a product of both the past and present governments \u2013 already includes a requirement for “highly effective<\/em>” Age Verification<\/strong>. The original goal of this was to restrict the ability of children to access “harmful<\/em>” adult content, such as porn, although political mission creep has inevitably started to cast a wider net and introduce ever more expansion censorship.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> The OSA is far-reaching and touches many websites and online services (big and small alike \u2013 major social networks and small personal blogs). But it\u2019s also true to say that Ofcom<\/a> lacks the resources to monitor everything, thus their focus is usually reserved for the worst offenders and major firms.<\/div>\n

The latest proposals include plans to amend both the Children\u2019s Wellbeing and Schools Bill<\/strong><\/a> (CWSB) and the Crime and Policing Bill<\/strong><\/a> (CPB), both of which are already nearing the end of their debate cycle before achieving royal assent to become law.<\/p>\n

However, the proposed changes will first need to be guided by a new Children\u2019s Digital Wellbeing Consultation<\/strong>, which is due to “launch next month<\/em>” and will be “guided by what parents and children say they need now, not in several years\u2019 time<\/em>“. On the other hand, today’s announcement does rather make it sound like the Government has already made up its mind on the key issues.<\/p>\n

The Government said “these powers will mean we can act fast on its findings within months, rather than waiting years for new primary legislation every time technology evolves … no platform gets a free pass<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Key Changes Being Proposed<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u27a4 A “crackdown on vile illegal content created by AI<\/em>“. The government will shut a legal loophole and force all AI chatbot providers to abide by illegal content duties in the Online Safety Act or face the consequences of breaking the law.<\/p>\n

\u27a4 Setting a minimum age limit for social media.<\/p>\n

\u27a4 Restricting features like infinite scrolling that are deemed harmful.<\/p>\n

\u27a4 The government will also consult on how best to ensure tech companies can safeguard children from sending or receiving nude images in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u27a4 The government will “examine … options<\/em>” to age restrict or limit children\u2019s VPN use where it undermines safety protections and changing the age of digital consent.<\/p>\n

\u27a4 Strengthen protections for families facing the most devastating circumstances by ensuring that vital data following a child\u2019s death is preserved before it can be deleted, except in cases where online activity is clearly not relevant to the death.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The key details around some of this are currently unclear. For example, we don’t yet know what sort of minimum age limit will be set (under 18s, under 16s etc.) or whether the government’s definition of “social media<\/em>” extends beyond the major platforms (Facebook, X etc.), which might cause it to reach into other user-to-user services (e.g. small community forums about general topics that don’t appeal to children, help forums for sensitive subjects, chat systems inside online video games etc.). Suffice to say that there are a variety of technical, privacy, ethical and economic challenges, particularly for the smallest of websites that may lack the capability to adapt.<\/p>\n

UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAs a dad of two teenagers, I know the challenges and the worries that parents face making sure their kids are safe online.<\/p>\n

Technology is moving really fast, and the law has got to keep up. With my government, Britain will be a leader not a follower when it comes to online safety.<\/p>\n

The action we took on Grok sent a clear message that no platform gets a free pass.<\/p>\n

Today we are closing loopholes that put children at risk, and laying the groundwork for further action.<\/p>\n

We are acting to protect children\u2019s wellbeing and help parents to navigate the minefield of social media.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, despite the focus on children above, it’s important for adult users to understand that wider use of Age Verification will directly impact their own use of and access to such services, potentially preventing your access until such time as you agree to share your personal biometric or financial data with often unknown, unfamiliar and unregulated third-party organisations. The above remarks are particularly relevant when you consider that it may be mostly adults driving VPN usage to bypass age verification in order to avoid sharing their personal data with unknown entities.<\/p>\n

All of this is before we touch on the potentially far-reaching and unintended consequences of enforcing age verification on VPNs, which are also legitimate tools for businesses, journalists and to help protect people (security) when abroad or on public networks etc. Many such VPNs can be deeply integrated into modern protection and network optimisation systems, often acting seamlessly in the background, thus a blanket requirement risks being extraordinarily disruptive.<\/p>\n

The reality is that, whatever the government decides, children who go seeking access to such systems and content will always find a way to circumvent any measures that are introduced \u2013 just as they always have done (e.g. people can create their own personal VPNs with ease). Instead, it often ends up being the innocent and harmless online services and security systems that could be hurt the most by the sledgehammer approach to age-gated internet censorship.<\/p>\n

Finally, big questions also remain over how the government will go about awkward business of ensuring tech companies can safeguard children from even sending or receiving nude images in the first place, which could be difficult as many people these days use private messaging apps based around end-to-end encryption.<\/p>\n

Please note that we won\u2019t be able to approve any comments on this news article that appear to directly promote specific VPN services, due to the risk that this could clash with the government\u2019s prior warnings about such promotions (here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

UPDATE 1st March 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The related consultation has now launched (here<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for social media (i.e. greater use of Age Verification), as well as options to age restrict or limit children’s use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN), where it “undermines safety […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1645],"tags":[473,109,36,38,479],"class_list":["post-44753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uk_isp_news","category-key_uk_isp_industry_developments","tag-censorship","tag-internet-privacy","tag-ofcom-regulation","tag-politics","tag-security"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@ispreview\/116079226737469318","error":""},"yoast_head":"\nGovernment Set to Restrict UK Children's Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE - ISPreview UK<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government Set to Restrict UK Children's Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE - ISPreview UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ISPreview UK\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-16T07:52:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-02T10:40:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/nggallery_import\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark Jackson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ispreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ispreview\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Jackson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mark Jackson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5\"},\"headline\":\"Government Set to Restrict UK Children’s Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-16T07:52:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-02T10:40:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html\"},\"wordCount\":1058,\"commentCount\":52,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/nggallery_import\\\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Censorship\",\"Internet Privacy\",\"Ofcom Regulation\",\"Politics\",\"Security\"],\"articleSection\":[\"ISP News\",\"Key Developments\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html\",\"name\":\"Government Set to Restrict UK Children's Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE - ISPreview UK\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/nggallery_import\\\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-16T07:52:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-02T10:40:14+00:00\",\"description\":\"The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/nggallery_import\\\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/nggallery_import\\\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"Blocked UK internet content sign\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Government Set to Restrict UK Children’s Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/\",\"name\":\"ISPreview UK\",\"description\":\"Top Broadband ISP and Mobile Provider Information Site\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"ISPreview.co.uk\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/07\\\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000,\"caption\":\"ISPreview.co.uk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ispreview\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ispreview\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/mjack\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/bsky.app\\\/profile\\\/ispreview.bsky.social\",\"https:\\\/\\\/mastodon.social\\\/@ispreview\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5\",\"name\":\"Mark Jackson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/nggallery_import\\\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/nggallery_import\\\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/01\\\/nggallery_import\\\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Mark Jackson\"},\"description\":\"By Mark Jackson Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ispreview\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ispreview\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ispreview.co.uk\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/markj\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Government Set to Restrict UK Children's Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE - ISPreview UK","description":"The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Government Set to Restrict UK Children's Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE - ISPreview UK","og_description":"The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html","og_site_name":"ISPreview UK","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","article_published_time":"2026-02-16T07:52:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-02T10:40:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/nggallery_import\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mark Jackson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ispreview","twitter_site":"@ispreview","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark Jackson","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html"},"author":{"name":"Mark Jackson","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5"},"headline":"Government Set to Restrict UK Children’s Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE","datePublished":"2026-02-16T07:52:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-02T10:40:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html"},"wordCount":1058,"commentCount":52,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/nggallery_import\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg","keywords":["Censorship","Internet Privacy","Ofcom Regulation","Politics","Security"],"articleSection":["ISP News","Key Developments"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html","name":"Government Set to Restrict UK Children's Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE - ISPreview UK","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/nggallery_import\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg","datePublished":"2026-02-16T07:52:13+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-02T10:40:14+00:00","description":"The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/nggallery_import\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/nggallery_import\/blocked_internet_content_website_uk_isp.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"Blocked UK internet content sign"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/02\/government-set-to-restrict-uk-childrens-use-of-internet-vpns-and-social-media.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Government Set to Restrict UK Children’s Use of Internet VPNs and Social Media UPDATE"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/","name":"ISPreview UK","description":"Top Broadband ISP and Mobile Provider Information Site","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#organization","name":"ISPreview.co.uk","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/ispreview_uk_logo.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"caption":"ISPreview.co.uk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","https:\/\/x.com\/ispreview","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mjack\/","https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/ispreview.bsky.social","https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@ispreview"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/#\/schema\/person\/de66a8b4e937c21c80e443d1bf9c35d5","name":"Mark Jackson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/nggallery_import\/Mark-Jackson-96x96.jpg","caption":"Mark Jackson"},"description":"By Mark Jackson Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ispreview","https:\/\/x.com\/ispreview"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/author\/markj"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}