Could Labour ban VPNs after users dodge online protection laws?
Some internet users have raised concerns that stricter online safety laws could include VPNs in the future
Some internet ueers are concerned their VPNs are under threat
(Image: Getty Images)
Since Labour introduced new age verifcation methods as part of the Online Safety Act, VPNs have seen an uptick in popularity.
Virtual Private Networks help to obscure someone's IP address and can trick a website into thinking someone is connecting from another country. In practice, this allows users to dodge age verification checks from websites that require them under the new laws.
However, with the government pushing the controversial rules on sites and emphasising its necessity in protecting children from harm online, many are concerned that this relatively easy way of skirting the checks could be banned. One concerned user on Reddit raised this question and asked whether the government could actually ban VPNs.
Difficulties faced in banning VPNs
User GenericUser104 wrote in the r/homelab subreddit:"I've recently started using a VPN again. I used one a while back to sail the seas, and now I'm using Proton to get around the Online Safety Act in the UK. Now there's talk of them banning VPNs too. Surely this isn't something they can do—and if it is, how would I put things in place so it won't affect me?"
In response, another user highlighted how it would be technically very difficult for the government to implement a ban on VPNs due to their extensive use in business settings as well as person. User hk135 said: "VPN's are used extensively in the Corporate world for remote working, this is where they originated as a means to securely connect to the network at Work or interconnect various offices and sites.
"Blanket banning VPN's is a non-starter for corporate reasons. Not just this but also depending on how you define a VPN, if it is encapsulating traffic in an encrypted tunnel, then SSL in general would be covered.
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"What about encrypted connections to Proxy servers, that would redirect traffic as well. The logistics of banning VPNs or even anything that hides (intentional or not) the source IP address is unworkable, it would make any kind of security on the internet illegal."
Overseas restrictions on VPNs
However, some other users pointed out that other countries have already placed bans and restriction on using VPNs at home. For example, citizens in China are only allowed to use certain VPNs that have been approved by the government.
Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates also has strict laws against using VPNs to access restricted content. Certain forms of restricted content can include calling services like WhatsApp.
Similarly, user theantnest claimed: "As somebody who lived and worked in Dubai for a number of years, I can tell you that banning VPNs is totally possible. In the UAE every VPN website is blocked, it just won't load. And then they use deep packet inspection to detect VPN use and then throttle the traffic.
"This even works on private VPNs like shoving a raspberry Pi running OpenVPN onto the network at your grandmothers house. The one caveat is that the UAE only has 2 ISPs that are both government owned. For it to work in the UK they would need to legislate that all ISPs must block VPN traffic by law."
Does the government plan on banning VPNs?
While concerns are being raised over a potential ban on VPNs, there is currently no indication from the government or other official bodies of this being put in place. In fact, the Science Secretary Peter Kyle told Sky News last month that he acknowledged VPN use was on the rise but stressed "the vast majority of adults" in the UK were following the rules.
At the time, he said no plans were in place to ban VPNs, but added that he was looking "very closely" at how they are being used. He noted that "very few children" were actively looking for harmful content online and that the issue surrounding the law was that "harmful content comes and finds them".
Melanie Dawes, the head of Ofcom, told MPs in May that people would use VPNs to get around the restrictions. 'A very concerted 17-year-old who really wants to use a VPN to access a site they shouldn't may well be able to,' she said. 'Individual users can use VPNs. Nothing in the Act blocks it.
Furthermore, a spokesperson for the Age Verification Providers Association said that good quality VPNs provide a more secure way to connect to the internet. They added that AVPF does not support a ban on VPNs.
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On its own website AVPF highlighted that digital services that want to remain compliant with the rules could detect VPN use, asses risk through behavioural cues, and flag users the option to verify their age or prove their location.
A Government spokesperson said: "The Online Safety Act places no curbs whatsoever on what adults can say, see or access on the internet, unless it is something that would already be illegal, offline.
"However, we make no apology for holding platforms to account, to ensure they take steps to prevent children from bypassing safety protections. This includes not encouraging content that promotes VPNs or other workarounds, when they are aimed specifically aimed at young users. More broadly, there are a range of legitimate reasons why users might use VPNs which do not cut across children's safety online."
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