Three years after the Online Safety Act, could the under-16 social media ban put VPNs back in the firing line?
Last week marked three years since the UK Government enacted the Online Safety Act (OSA). Now, the impending UK under-16s social media ban and questions over the effectiveness of current measures threaten to push VPNs back into the spotlight.
Speaking to TechRadar, VPN providers said the law has been a "heavy-handed approach" that's only been "partly" successful.
But some aspects have seen success. Companies now have obligations to proactively detect and remove child sexual abuse material (CSAM), several specific harms were criminalised, and penalties have been introduced for non-compliance — although not all have been paid.
With Ofcom announcing steps for an under-16 social media ban last week, VPN providers are warning that repeating the same age-gating playbook will only backfire.
'No significant overall change'
The Online Safety Act was introduced to protect children and vulnerable adults online. But, as Dr Peter Membrey, Chief Research Officer at ExpressVPN, notes,...
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