The UK’s Online Safety Act, enacted in October 2023, aims to protect minors from harmful online content by imposing broad duties on platforms, including age verification and content restrictions. While intended as a child protection measure, the law has sparked concerns about privacy and free expression, particularly as it targets privacy tools like VPNs. These tools, widely used to secure internet traffic and protect user anonymity, are now being pressured to implement invasive monitoring and age verification, undermining their core purpose and raising fears of state surveillance akin to authoritarian regimes. Similar trends are emerging globally, with countries like Australia and Denmark considering or enacting regulations that restrict VPN use under the guise of child safety and intellectual property enforcement.

Critics argue that these legislative efforts conflate child protection with broader digital control, compromising encryption, anonymity, and user choice. Instead of addressing the root causes of online harm—such as algorithm-driven content amplification and platform business models—policymakers focus on expanding surveillance and control mechanisms. This approach risks creating a digital environment where privacy technologies are subordinated to state mandates, limiting free access to information and expression. Ultimately, using child safety as a justification for pervasive monitoring threatens democratic liberties and may establish enduring surveillance infrastructures that extend beyond their original intent.