The House of Lords passed a vote that would, if approved by the Government, introduce an amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (CWSB) that aims to “prohibit the provision” of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to children (under 18s) in the UK. The goal is to stop children allegedly using VPNs to bypass age verification systems.

According to the details on the Conservative-led amendment (92) page: “This new clause would require the Secretary of State to take action to promote and protect children’s wellbeing, and to further support child protective measures in the Online Safety Act, by prohibiting the provision to children in the United Kingdom of VPN services which can facilitate evasion of OSA age-gating processes.”

Source: https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/01/house-of-lords-votes-to-ban-uk-children-from-using-internet-vpns.html

Official page regarding the vote: https://votes.parliament.uk/votes/lords/division/3503