UK drafts age-gating online access for children, EFF warns

UK ID – The British government is moving to ban under-16s from social media and limit under-18 access online, using ID verification for age checks—an approach the EFF says will invade privacy and create security risks without truly stopping teenagers from finding ways

For teenagers in Britain, the internet has always felt like a place where rules can be tested. Now the British government is moving toward a new kind of enforcement—one that would require age checks powered by online identity verification.

Under the proposal, people under 16 would be banned from social media, while access for under-18s would be restricted. The mechanism being discussed is an age restriction policed through online ID verification—meaning the question “How old are you?” would be answered not with a click. but with identity documents.

The EFF’s warning is blunt: this kind of system would not be limited to young users. The plan, as described, would require every British adult to show ID to access large parts of the Internet as well.

What’s missing, according to the EFF’s critique, is clarity on how this would be implemented in practice. The proposal is expected to rely on the “lax security measures” of third-party, lowest-bidder identity verification services. In that setup. the EFF argues. the resulting database becomes an unusually rich target—one that attackers would likely want to breach.

The EFF also disputes the public promise attached to the idea of “giving under-16s their childhood back.” In its view. the outcome would be narrower and harsher than the campaign language suggests. It warns the measures would deprive children and teens of access to community. friends. and distant family. along with educational content that could matter for them.

Even if the restrictions are technically effective. the EFF suggests. they may not change teenagers’ behavior so much as redirect it. It points to the obvious workarounds young people can find. noting that kids aren’t “stupid” and will try using a fake ID—referencing a satirical example from the document’s discussion. It also says they may become VPN experts.

The EFF goes further on what it expects to happen next for the more technically minded. It says a VPN ban is reportedly in the works. and that could push a whole generation toward learning how to bypass the rules—starting with tools and tinkering on devices like a Raspberry Pi. running software designed to get around restrictions.

The EFF says it has raised concerns about UK ID laws before, and the current push is framed as another step in the same direction: more verification, more data, and more gatekeeping that would reach beyond the children the policy claims to protect.

At the heart of the debate is a simple tension. The government’s stated aim is to reduce access for minors. The EFF’s counter is that the method—universal ID checks layered across broad swaths of the internet—could take away access for the very users it wants to protect. while also building a high-value identity database that could be exploited.

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