- The British government says that it “does not intend to repeal the online security law” despite increasing concerns
- The laws are designed to make the Internet a safer place, especially for children and vulnerable adults
- Compulsory age verification checks have been applied since July 25, arousing concerns on digital rights of web users
The British government claims that it does not intend to repeal the online security law, as the opposition to it is developing following the introduction of online age check checks.
A petition calling on the government to abolish the law accumulated more than 450,000 signatures in a few days. While the law became law in 2023, the counterpoupoured was triggered by the recent introduction of age verification checks for users of many websites.
From July 25, the British must go through robust compulsory age checks in order to access the websites reserved for adults and to any potentially harmful online content.
While the government says that laws are intended to protect children and adults who use the Internet, criticism argues that they have serious implications for people’s privacy, online security, freedom of expression and access to information.
The British government responded to the petition with nearly 400,000 signatures to repeal the online security law. They do not intend to repeal the law on online security pic.twitter.com/m6uevrfwg1July 28, 2025
The British Parliament must consider a debate on any petition which obtains more than 100,000 signatures. However, responding to the petition, the British Department for Sciences, Innovation and Technology said: “The government does not intend to repeal the online security law and works in close collaboration with OFCOM to implement the law as quickly and as quickly as possible to allow British users to benefit from its protections.”
He added: “The government will continue to work with OFCOM for the complete implementation of the 2023 online security law, including monitoring proportional implementation.”
What is there behind the age of age verification?
The online security law aims to make the internet a safer place, especially for children. But many defenders of online confidentiality and security experts fear that age verification measures in particular end up doing more harm than good.
You must now scan your face, a credit card or an identity document if you want to access certain content on X, Reddit or Bluesky in the United Kingdom, and the same is true if you want to play a new video game over 18, find a new match on a dating application or watch a video reserved for adults only. These platforms must be associated with third -party age verification services to implement checks.
Leaks, abuses and improper use of data are only some of the risks linked to mass data collection that age verification checks involve. Some commentators also fear that age blocking certain content deemed harmful can lead to limits of freedom of expression and access to information.
“Although the intention to protect children is understandable, the execution raises serious concerns about privacy, censorship and, functionally, that it even works,” Techradar, co -founder and CEO based in Techradar told Techradar.
These concerns have led thousands of people to turn to a virtual private network (VPN) as a way to protect their sensitive information. Proton VPN, for example, recorded an hourly increase of more than 1,400% from midnight on July 25.
If you have concerns about sharing your online data in order to comply with age check checks, you can use a VPN to keep your data secure. You will find reliable options in our best free VPN guide.
However, free VPNs sometimes lack important security features, so for a more robust option, take a look at our best VPN guide. Our best recommendation is NordVPN, and at the moment, Techradar readers can conclude an exclusive agreement when they are part of its two -year plans.
